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Re: respect privacy please !

2004-05-21 09:42:34


--On Friday, 21 May, 2004 15:55 +0100 Tim Chown <tjc(_at_)ecs(_dot_)soton(_dot_)ac(_dot_)uk> wrote:

On Sat, May 22, 2004 at 12:05:00AM +1000, grenville armitage
wrote:

This could be solved by the IETF insisting that consent is
required before attendance. I, like John, do not believe it
is acceptable for the IETF meetings to be populated by
anonymous attendees.

The issue is someone knowing where I am for a week, in advance.

Harald's suggestion of releasing the list post-event is an
improvement...

Hmm. Being paranoid about folks who arrive or depart in black helicopters (despite being accused in the past of being one of that group), post-meeting feels too late to me. But, other than whatever additional burdens it adds for the Secretariat, I can see almost no objection to keeping the list confidential until Sunday afternoon or early Monday of the meeting week.

However, before we say "that is a wonderful idea" (or not), let's remember the substance of several of the "IETF administration" notes and documents that have been circulated in the last several months. If I understand those materials and discussions correctly, the Secretariat is stretched pretty thin, there are no spare dollars floating around, few if any of us are anxious to see increased meeting fees, and I gather that almost every request for something new involves a decision about what doesn't get done instead. Even when there has been a perception of lots of resources, the Secretariat has, for as long as I can remember, been flat-out during the few days before and after an IETF meeting starts. So "post Sunday afternoon" is possibly unworkable in practice unless it can be turned over to some automated process... and I don't know if the database structure lends itself to that without considerable work.

Moreover, I've several times noticed a significant advantage of having _my_ name and payment status listed -- it provides an easy way for me to check on whether I've registered and paid or whether I let it fall through the cracks. So, for purely pragmatic reasons, I'd hate to see the advanced registration list taken down unless there is an easy and automated way for me to inquire as to whether or not I'm correctly registered. Or the _advanced_ registration list could be made opt-out until Sunday, and then posted with all names listed. But either probably implies more Secretariat work, even if we don't care much about the security (authenticity) of the query in the former case.

So, how important is this, really? For most of the regular attendees, someone wanting to know that you will be away for a week and when needs only to determine when an IETF meeting is being held. That isn't 100% reliable, of course, but, because you can register (and even pay) and then not come (and I gather a significant number of people do so every time), neither is the current list.

Speaking for myself only, of course.

best,
   john



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