- From: Joseph M. Reagle Jr. <reagle@w3.org>
- Date: Mon, 24 May 1999 11:27:35 -0400
- To: www-p3p-public-comments@w3.org
Message-ID: <36DB06A7.3DF225E2@research.att.com> Date: Mon, 01 Mar 1999 16:29:11 -0500 From: Lorrie Faith Cranor <lorrie@research.att.com> To: w3c-p3p-coordination@w3.org Subject: Proposed vocab changes Based on our discussions with lawyers and our experience using the P3P vocabulary over the past several months, I would like to propose the following changes to the vocabulary. I would also like to propose that after the coordination group has discussed these and removed any that the group cannot reach a consensus on, that the group consider forwarding the remaining list of proposed changes to the former P3P harmonized vocab group and/or P3P Interest Group to see if there are any objections. All changes are based on the vocab draft http://www.w3.org/P3P/Group/Syntax/Drafts/WD-P3P-19990208/vocab.html I don't believe this draft has changed in several months although its version number has changed. PROPOSED CHANGE 1: In section 1, the fourth paragraph currently says: Note, in addition to the terms specified in the harmonized vocabulary, P3P requires services to specify in their proposals the service provider's identity, an experience space to which their practices apply (e.g., realm: http://www.w3.org), the location at which users can find a human-readable explanation of the service's privacy policies (discURI) and an optional human-readable description of the result (e.g., consequence: "to offer customized sports updates"). I would like to make the following changes: - insert "(entity)" following "service provider's identity" - add the following to the end of this paragraph: In addition, services may specify an "assuring party" that attests that the service provider will abide by its proposal, follow guidelines in the processing of data, or other relevant assertions. Entity, realm, discURI, consequence, and assurance elements are fully specified in the <a href = "http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-P3P/syntax">P3P Syntax Specification</a>. The purpose of this change is to better document all in one place the other semantic information contained in a P3P proposal that is defined elsewhere in the spec. PROPOSED CHANGE 2: Add a category 10 to section 4 Data Categories. This category would be called "State Management Mechanisms" and would be defined as: Mechanisms for maintaining a stateful session with a user or automatically identifying users who have visited a particular site or accessed particular content previously -- such as HTTP cookies. The purpose of this change is to provide a category that can be used to describe current and future state management mechanisms. PROPOSED CHANGE 3: Add a category 11 to section 4 Data Categories. This category would be called "Other" and would be defined as: Other types of data not captured by the above definitions. (A human readable explanation should be provided in these instances.) The purpose of this change is to provide a category that developers of new data element schemas can use if they wish to define new data elements that really don't fit well into our defined categories. PROPOSED CHANGE 4: Change the explanation of identifiable use to reflect its relationship to the well-known term "personally identifiable data." I am not proposing any change to our use of the term "identifiable use" -- just a change in the way we explain it. Specifically, we should: Change definition of Personally Identifiable Data in section 3 Definitions to the standard definition with a note that we emphasize identifiable use: Any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual. Note that this vocabulary uses a broader term -- Identifiable Use -- that focuses on the way information is used. Add definition of Identifiable Use in section 3 Definitions: The use of information relating to an individual that identifies that individual -- this may include linking information with personally identifiable information from other sources or combining information so as to infer a person's identity. Change the explanation of Identifiable Use in section 6 Purpose Qualifiers to: Is data used in a way that is personally identifiable -- including linking it with personally identifiable information from other sources? While some data is obviously identifiable (such as full name), other data (such as zip code, salary, or birth date) could allow a person to be identified depending on how it is used. Also, a technically astute person in some circumstances could determine the identity of a user from the IP number in a HTTP log. This requires a specific effort and is based on how that IP number is registered, whether it is used by more than one person on a computer, or if it is dynamically allocated by an internet service provider. Consequently, we refrain from defining any particular data or set of data as personally identifiable and instead focus on whether data is used in an identifiable way. Thus identifiable use applies to data commonly considered to be personally identifiable as well as other data that is used in an identifiable way. The purpose of this change is to clarify our use of these terms for people familiar with the well-known term "personally identifiable data." ___________________________________________________________ Joseph Reagle Jr. http://www.w3.org/People/Reagle/ Policy Analyst mailto:reagle@w3.org
Received on Monday, 24 May 1999 11:29:07 UTC