Re: [IETF] Re: Future Handling of Blue Sheets

[Warren Kumari <[e-mail]>]

On May 10, 2012, at 1:42 PM, Melinda Shore wrote:

> On 5/10/12 9:32 AM, Martin Rex wrote:
>> There has never been a need to actively broadcast these massive amounts
>> of personally identifiable information (PII), and I haven't seen any
>> convincing rationale for doing it now.
> 
> To be honest, "I don't want to receive more spam" and "My boss might
> find out I skipped a session" are not reasons not to be open about
> who's participating in sessions, particularly as we drift towards a
> meetings/voting model.  I understand sensitivity about broadcasting
> travel plans but in general some of the arguments being offered for
> being a less open organization with a less open process are drifting
> into "The FBI implanted a radio transmitter in my teeth" territory,
> and it seems to me that making blue sheets available after meetings
> does not reveal much PII beyond what's already available on the mailing
> lists.

Oh dear, oh dear oh dear….

I've been trying hard to stay out of this discussion, but finally cannot anymore…

I fully agree with Melinda here -- if you are active in the IETF (or even if you aren't), you email address is already known to the spammers. Our lists, and list archives are all public -- if you think that you are important enough that spammers would download and OCR blue sheets to get your address, you are A: out of touch with the current spam model and / or b: believe that you are much more important than you really are...

If you are concerned that your bossman might figure out that you skipped a session -- well, here's an idea, actually two:
1: work somewhere where you manager trusts you enough to do what's in the best interests of the organization (and then do so) and / or
2: attend the friggin' sessions. Presumably you flew half way round the world to participate, not to drink espressos in some new and exotic city.

For the record:
1: My email addresses are [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail] and ...
2: I was sitting in seat 3A in room 243 at 15:25 on TUESDAY, March 27, 2012.  I cannot remember what I was wearing, but it probably involved a t-shirt, sandals and some kind of hat. When you invent a time machines and travel back, you should be able to find me there..
3: I didn't attend a single session on Afternoon Session I, WEDNESDAY, March 28, 2012

(I feel that I have gotten much much rantier than intended, but, oh well…)

W


[0]: and mailman's super secure s/[e-mail]/warren at kumari.net/ was figured out a long time ago!

> 
> There's a serious question here about tradeoffs between privacy and
> openness.  Openness is not just a core institutional value (although
> it is one - do not forget that), but it's also a defense against
> charges of collusion, which, unfortunately, we've been seeing.
> 
> Melinda
>