Case Study Security

In order to serve its purpose, The Machine is fed copies of (essentially) all surveillance camera feeds and electronic communications worldwide. It can then analyze this data to track people, infer their social networks, and look for evidence that they are engaged in nefarious activities. These ndings are then forwarded to appropriate individuals (various elements of the Federal government for terrorist activities, or the series protagonists for other deadly threats).

The Machine has two major safeguards against abuse. It is designed to operate as a black box, meaning that its inner workings are hidden from view it will reveal neither the raw information it uses, nor the way it analyzes the data. As a consequence of being a black box, The Machine will only emit the social security number of an individual involved in some way in the crime. The number may belong to either victim or perpetrator, leaving the team receiving the report to determine whether they need to protect or thwart the aged individual. (In some cases, The Machine may report multiple SSNs at once. In these cases, it still does not indicate victim or perpetrator, nor does it necessarily indicate that only one event is being reported.)

Please respond to each of the following questions. For questions which have yes or no answers, also include an explanation of your reasoning.

1. The Machines black-box nature is intended as a privacy safeguard. Assume the Machine is a perfect black box, and cannot be made to reveal information. Does it actually protect the privacy of the people it watches? If so, how is it dierent from other pervasive surveillance? If not, why now?

2. Assume The Machine is physically located in a single facility and someone wishing to bypass its black-box nature has physical access to the facility and Machine. Does having The Machine operate as a black box actually protect the information? Does the level of protection change if we assume The Machine itself cannot be hacked?

3. Are there cases where being limited to providing the social security number of a victim or perpetrator might interfere with responding to a situation? If so, how might that be the case? If not, why not?