This is where we will post our interviews with citizens.

Framing a deliberation about Privacy

Issue framing begins, not with information, but with feelings. We could ask, Is privacy an important topic for the public to discuss? What is important to you personally about privacy? What do you think of when I ask you about privacy? How do you feel about privacy? What concerns do you have about privacy?
Other suggestions? See the "script for focus groups" in the navigation on your left.


We need to ask people with every imaginable point of view until we hear nothing new any more. All comments need to be recorded. Who have we not asked yet? See the "table of people we need to hear" in the navigation on your left.


Don't worry about formality or statistical accuracy. Just gather what people you can together and start them talking. So far, the script questions have worked to get a conversation started. Write down the concerns in their phrasing. If you feel like using a tape recorder and it doesn't inhibit the group, fine. We don't need to capture every word - people will want to explain and talk about each concern. Use reference interviewing techniques to confirm you've got the gist of their concern.


Here are examples of how concerns may sound:

◊ I don't have anything to hide and neither should you
◊ Government doesn't have a clue, look at what happened to Social Security numbers
◊ Identity theft worries me – how can I protect my mother's maiden name?
◊ Privacy is a cloak for evildoers
◊ It's fine with me if grocery knows what I buy, as long as they give me discount
◊ I don't want my medical records shared with my employer or insurer
◊ It's a different world now, privacy is dead, get over it
◊ What I read is my business, it doesn't tell you what I'm going to do
◊ Government agencies need to share information to catch criminals & terrorists
◊ Chips in passports could “out” me as an American and endanger me abroad
◊ We need to know a politician's character, too bad if it invades their privacy
◊ Invasive - I don't feel like I can keep anything private any more
◊ You can't trust a government that acts in secret
◊ I want to know if there are sex offenders in my neighborhood
◊ It makes me nervous to have my real estate transactions on the Internet
◊ With computers, it's not like when you had to go to court house to see records
◊ Rules of evidence handcuff police trying to protect us
◊ We must protect homeland security, whatever it takes
◊ I don't want anyone to track how I surf the Web, sometimes I'm just curious
◊ There's no modesty any more, we know way too much about celebrities
◊ We teach kids that secrets are bad so they won't get molested, but not to be a tattletale
◊ People won't run for office for fear the media will dig up dirt on them
◊ There's no right to privacy in the Constitution
◊ Data mining could make me look like something I'm not
◊ It's too much paperwork to protect privacy, it ought to be the other way around
◊ I can't remember all these passwords and PINs, and then they expect me to change them
◊ Spying on neighbors is what dictators want, it's not American
◊ Molesters shouldn't be able to pretend they're kids on the Internet
◊ I hate phone spam, what I need privacy for is my phone number
◊ Why should I be inconvenienced by TSA rules that even I can figure out how to evade?
◊ The stupid newspaper prints all sorts of stuff that just helps criminals get away with it
◊ Nothing about my child should be private from me as a parent
◊ I googled myself and I'm appalled at how much is on the Internet about me
◊ Back when we lived in small towns and knew each other, we behaved better Computers have too much information and it is not protected enough
◊ Everyone needs some personal space where they don't have to wonder what others think
◊ It's nobody's business how much I make, well nobody but the IRS
◊ Stalkers have used public information to attack people
◊ You have no right to expect privacy when you're in public
◊ Surveillance cameras do make me feel safer
◊ I hate it when the clerk knows me but I still have to show ID
◊ Snooping and gossiping destroy relationships, we should respect each other's privacy What we need is more investigative reporting to stop scandals in office
◊ My address shouldn't be on the Internet
◊ When I'm sick, I want a family member to be able to fill my prescription without a hassle
◊ You don't dare date somebody these days without knowing a lot about them
◊ You watch, they're going to eliminate paper money so they can track everything
◊ Not everything should be public – that's why we put doors on bathrooms
◊ The way we treat kids in school, we're raising a generation that has never known privacy