Editorial Pointers

The Internet may have opened the world to us, but it’s a world we’d prefer to tour privately. We want the freedom to roam terrain on our own terms; and we want assurances we will leave no identifying footprints in our wake. We want our presence to remain faceless—albeit, nameless—in the crowd. Alas, that’s the tricky part.

This month’s special section investigates the current state of online privacy and the tools available to veil our travels on the Net. Guest editor Lorrie Cranor orchestrated this journey by enlisting authors representing the primary players creating today’s protective products. The articles in this section illustrate various methods that work to achieve anonymity. You will learn of tools that transform messages into layers of encryption, that create pseudonomy, and that help users get lost in the crowd. You will read about a trustmark that lets Web visitors know a site adheres to strict privacy measures, and of a platform that encourages Web sites to display privacy practices at home pages. You will see various anonymizing techniques at work and legislative provisions at bay. We hope the information gleaned from this work will preserve the John and Jane Does in all of us.

Brock Meeks picks up the privacy challenge in this month’s "Electronic Frontier," where he dissects the nonexistent privacy of email. Our "On Site" column emanates from Lebanon, where Ghinwa Jalloul provides a fascinating account of building a life (and a computing career) amidst a country in turmoil. And in "Personal Computing," Larry Press gives a generous outline of the evolution of business data processing tools, focusing on influential forces and how they will shape the tools of tomorrow.

Our feature articles offer some strong ammunition for systems managers and designers battling project deadlines and obstacles. Gowan, Jesse, and Mathieu report on compliance progress at the desktop level; that is, the distributed enterprise. Their recent survey findings raise some serious questions about the Y2K readiness of the majority of U.S. companies and organizations. Robert Glass, in his typically engaging style, evaluates the realities of software technology payoffs. The dream, he says, sometimes clouds the real picture. Rajiv Sabherwal points out the risk factors of outsourcing IS projects when vital, proprietary company plans are at stake. He offers some helpful advice for evaluating the role of trust when managing outsourced IS development projects.

Diane Crawford, Editor

COMING NEXT MONTH: Two special sections that highlight advancements in intelligent agents on the Web, particularly the growing use multiple agents. One section will focus on multiagents in business applications, particularly e-commerce; the other will be international in scope, illustrating how AI professionals worldwide are building and implementing new intelligent, multiagent systems.