Privacy Field Trip We'd Like to Take: The National Cryptologic Museum

The January/February issue of The Atlantic Monthly had a two-page spread titled, "Then and Now," a diagram comparing U.S. data from 2000 and 2008. In 2008, we watched 200 hours more television per person than in 2000. Gold was three times as expensive (the price is even higher now). Our credit card debt was 50 percent higher. There were 16.4 percent cell-phone-only households compared to 4.2 percent in 2000. Etc. Etc.

Anyway, lots of alternately depressing and interesting factoids like that. What caught our eye from a privacy perspective was the number of visits to the NSA's Cryptologic Museum. In 2000, 65 school groups paid them a visit, compared to 134 in 2007.

From the museum's website:

The National Cryptologic Museum is the National Security Agency's principal gateway to the public. It shares the Nation's, as well as NSA's, cryptologic legacy and place in world history. Located adjacent to NSA Headquarters, Ft. George G. Meade, Maryland, the Museum houses a collection of thousands of artifacts that collectively serve to sustain the history of the cryptologic profession. Here visitors can catch a glimpse of some of the most dramatic moments in the history of American cryptology: the people who devoted their lives to cryptology and national defense, the machines and devices they developed, the techniques they used, and the places where they worked. For the visitor, some events in American and world history will take on a new meaning. For the cryptologic professional, it is an opportunity to absorb the heritage of the profession.

The museum's been around since 1993, but it's kind of in the middle of nowhere as far as D.C. tourist destinations go. Most people do not tend to wander far from the Mall. The Spy Museum is conveniently located near the Verizon Center in tourist central near Gallery Place/Chinatown metro.

So, why did the museum get so popular between 2000 and 2007? The museum's curator, Patrick Weadon, tells us that educational programs only got their start at the museum in 2000:

Over the years we have worked very hard to develop a wide range of cryptology-related classes, scavenger hunts, and briefings to appeal to all age groups. Although we do not formally "advertise" our educational programs, we do reach out to local schools; over time, word has spread about the interesting, unique, educational, and most importantly, FUN programs that we offer.

The museum gets 50,000 to 60,000 visitors a year. We hope to take a field trip there ourselves in the near future. We're not sure what we'll actually find there in terms of exhibits. The museum's website is annoyingly cryptic.

Headlines Under Surveillance: 03.22.09

We're launching a new feature here at the Not-So Private Parts. A weekly round-up of articles that dealt with privacy issues. Here's the first round-up:

* After an evening spent in New York night court last year, we discovered that anyone charged with a felony has to submit a DNA sample to a NYPD database. (Note: Just charged. Not convicted.) That made us want to write an article on DNA privacy... but Jeffrey Rosen beat us to it: "Genetic Surveillance for All: What if the FBI put the family of everyone who has ever been convicted or arrested into a giant DNA database?" [Slate]

* Tim Berners-Lee is having an Oppenheimer moment. Berners-Lee, one of the original founders of the World Wide Web, has concerns about privacy and snooping online. [AFP]

* Google has rolled out a new advertising program: "interested-based advertising." It uses your cookies (the history of sites you have visited) to choose ads keyed to your interests. Privacy advocates don't like sharing their cookies with the Google monster. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has worked with Google to create a program for those who want to keep their cookies in a private cupboard. [EFF Deeplinks]

* Facebook has changed its template again, much to the dismay of just about everyone. Most people are talking about the annoying layout, but the changes go beyond aesthetics. Facebook made a big change in privacy settings. Facebook used to be a world where you had to have a link to someone in order to view their profile-- either you were a friend, alumni of the same school, or living in the same city. There was no way around that. Now Facebook will allow users to drop any semblance of privacy. [Epicenter/Wired]

* Back in February, a government official on the other side of the Pond said of privacy and security: "Finding out other people's secrets is going to involve breaking everyday moral rules." In a recently published public policy paper, former UK security chief Sir David Omand argues that privacy rights in the UK must be sacrificed for security's sake. [Guardian]