June 10, 2011
"In an environment where the lines between private and public spaces are blurring, technology is developing so rapidly, user behavior is in constant flux, complex feedback loops among technology, law, economics, and behavior exist, and where norms become increasingly contextual, fragmented, and ad hoc, our responsibility and challenge as designers–including law- and policy-makers as well as other professionals–should include the creation of advanced spaces for negotiation and conversation about privacy and its boundaries, the exploration of new types of interfaces among spheres and layers, and the creation of hybrid private/public spaces."

Urs Gasser, executive director at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, commenting at the start of Hyper-Public, a two-day symposium on “designing privacy and public space in the connected world” held at Harvard. The rest of his speech is here. Meantime, I love the broad definition of design, along with the organizers’ explanation of its relevance in this context. They write that design is an “agent of change. New media are our new public forums and the design of their interfaces affects what people reveal, wittingly or not.  Design is essential in making legible the line between private and public, and in showing people the significance of the information they are revealing. Most importantly, in an era in which technology is collapsing the boundaries that maintained our privacy, we must understand how design can promote tolerance.  For as our world becomes more public, it is only with heightened tolerance that we can maintain the freedom we value in privacy.”

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