Our man Schmidt advising the President on Privacy and Security
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Eric Schmidt is the only person quoted in this article in the New York Times. The significance of this conference AT NOVELL is that the President of the United States comes to Silicon Valley to learn something about internet security and privacy technology, and where does he go to --- Novell, and whom does he consult with as an expert --- Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Novell, and whom does the New York Times quote for an opinion from the technology industry --- Eric Schmidt the CEO of Novell.
This is the best possible public relations you can get for Novell. It sends a message to everyone reading the Times that if you want to CONSULT THE EXPERTS IN THIS TECHNOLOGY you go to NOVELL.
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Clinton Calls for Stronger Measures to
Protect the Privacy of Computer Users
By MARC LACEY
AN JOSE, Calif., March 3 --President Clinton said today that he
considered cyberspace too insecure for him to correspond
privately by e-mail with his daughter, Chelsea, who is away at college. In
the same speech to high-tech executives here in the heart of Silicon
Valley, Mr. Clinton also called on the industry to enhance computer
privacy to reassure many people like himself who are still wary of the
new technology.
And the president issued a
memorandum to the heads of
federal departments, urging
them to increase the
safeguards of federal
computers against intrusions
like the recent attacks that
overloaded and shut down
major Web sites.
Privacy rights in cyberspace
received renewed attention
this week with the decision
by DoubleClick Inc., the
nation's largest online
advertising company, to back off from a plan to combine information it
collected about Internet users' Web surfing habits with data about their
offline consumer behavior.
During a technology forum at the offices of Novell Inc., a software
company, Mr. Clinton said the federal government ought to get involved
in protecting the privacy of financial information and medical records on
the Internet. But he called on the industry to police itself in other areas.
Already, Mr. Clinton said, 66 percent of the commercial Web sites have
privacy standards, up from 15 percent a year ago.
"We know we have to keep cyberspace open and free because it sparks
creativity and innovation, because its infinite networks can do so much to
bring us together," he said. "But we also know that cyberspace must be a
community of shared responsibilities and common values."
Eric Schmidt, chairman and chief executive of Novell and one of Mr.
Clinton's supporters in the industry, said, "What was new was the
emphasis on privacy and security. It was the first time he had talked
about that with that kind of coherence as an initiative." Asked whether
those were areas better left to self-regulation by his industry, Mr.
Schmidt said: "There are certain things the government can do, and the
president clearly stated what those are -- medical records, financial
records, children. As long as the role of government is properly defined, I
think most people would agree with that."
At the forum, organized by the Aspen Institute, Mr. Clinton told the
high-tech executives that computer users deserved notice about what
personal information was being collected and how it would be used, and
should be able to choose whether the data would be shared with others.
"You know, ordinary folks, even people who aren't online yet, are very
excited about the prospects of this age so many of you have done so
much to create," Mr. Clinton told the executives, including the executives
of such Silicon Valley powerhouses as Yahoo, Cisco Systems and Siebel
Systems. "But they are really concerned about this. They are afraid they
will have no place to hide."
After his speech, Mr. Clinton said in a brief interview that he was one of
those people wary about sending information through cyberspace.
"I won't send e-mail to Chelsea because I don't think it's secure," he said.
The president added that once he left office next
year he would probably not be as concerned about
his electronic communications.
Mr. Clinton admits he is a novice when it comes to
the Internet. Just last week, during a fund-raising
visit to Florida, he marveled at something as
mundane as a screen saver. Before Christmas last
year, Mr. Clinton ordered some gifts over the
Internet, an experience he still talks about in his
speeches.
"Yesterday, we got a new benchmark for the new
economy when the Department of Commerce
released its first ever quarterly report on
e-commerce," he said today, "telling us the Internet sales from the fourth
quarter of last year, the holiday season, were $5.3 billion -- about $65 of
those attributable to the president."
Mr. Clinton's anxiety over e-mail messaging clearly will not stop him from
communicating with his daughter. He said they spoke on the phone, and
in between a string of fund-raisers in San Francisco and Los Angeles
tonight and Saturday that will raise $1.6 million for the Democrats, Mr.
Clinton plans to spend time, face-to-face, with Chelsea in Palo Alto,
Calif. |
