Marcus G. Daniels wrote at 09/25/2013 05:26 AM:
In the case of one person probing sensitive personal information of another person, the
latter might say "I'm not comfortable talking about that" or modify/truncate
the details of story on the fly to not reveal their discomfort nor their information.
In a triple store database, a query for relations would return different rows
depending on who was asking, and no triples could be added for a lower security
level if they were derived from queries made at a more restrictive level.
Probably simply limiting records isn't sufficient -- a triple store front end
might also sometimes need to invent proxy information (cover stories) to
maintain self-consistency.
Arlo's point brings up the difference between a measure and a generator. While
it makes perfect sense to use a digital classification scheme (confidential,
secret, top secret, nuclear, etc.) as a guide for an individual (artifact or
human) making a decision, it is unreasonable to expect that classification
scheme to arise naturally. The thing about measures is that they can't really
be planned, at least not completely. E.g. whether George W. Bush will be
considered anything other than an idiot 100 years from now is not something we
can specify. Hence, measures tend to produce continua, even if forcibly
discretized.
So, again, it seems the qualitative difference we've identified is not, say,
between source code and companies, it's between artifacts and organisms. But
this makes me wonder if it even makes _any_ sense to talk of open, muxed, or
closed artifacts at all? The end behind the means of all this is the living
beast constructing the artifacts.
And, as Steve points out, only to the extent we can create artificial beasts
(like your semi-intelligent database), to install higher functions like agency
into our artifacts, can we can begin to call those beasts open, muxed, or
closed. I suppose this is just another form of Stallman's argument for viral
openness in the face of the weaker forms. The real target is the behavior of
the humans. The fossilized imprints of their behavior is only a side effect.
But that takes me back to the main issue, which is the privileged access of the
morlocks. Can the eloi _ever_ expect privacy?
--
⇒⇐ glen e. p. ropella
Who cares to care when they're really scared
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
