Internet privacy: A study using triangulation, including historical research, a survey and content analysis, to determine the Center for Democracy and Technology's influence on legislation and opinion, 1995--2000

This dissertation investigated the social impact of the Center for Democracy and Technology's (CDT) work on Internet privacy and includes a review of the literature on privacy as well as a history of the CDT. Four research questions were examined: (1) What have been the major results of the CDT in terms of its work on Internet privacy? (2) What has been the social impact of the CDT according to its funders? (3) How has the CDT been perceived by the American public as reflected in the mass media; and (4) What effect(s), if any, has the CDT had on Internet privacy legislation?; A combination of historical research, survey, and content analysis was employed for the methodology. Historical research provided a chronological assessment of the CDT's outcomes. Survey revealed current opinions on the Center's impact on American society. Content analysis of selected newspapers, news broadcast transcripts, and Congressional testimonies uncovered patterns in past documented writings about the organization. Thus, triangulation of data collection strategies enabled a more complete picture of what was being studied, as well as provided a way to cross-check data.; The finding for Question 1 is that the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, the Communications Decency Act, Doubleclick, and Intel Pentium III constituted the major results of the CDT. The findings for Question 2 are that (a) the media considered the Center as an authority that could provide balanced and intelligent commentaries and explanations on privacy-related issues; (b) the media regarded the CDT as an educator in this field; (c) the media saw the organization as a promoter of privacy awareness; and (d) the media perceived the CDT as a defender of the public's right to privacy. The results of the study did not provide sufficient data to answer the third question. The finding for Question 4 is that the majority of funders perceived the CDT to have had some or much impact in its work on Internet privacy.