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| Citation | Ph.D. Dissertation, New York University, 2007.
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| Author | Michael Zimmer
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The freedom to move through both physical and intellectual space resonates with
many of the fundamental values and aspirations of American culture, including
free and open inquiry, personal autonomy, and liberty. These values are
articulated in various spheres where freedom of mobility - both physical and
intellectual - is typically enjoyed, ranging from the open highways, public
libraries, and the Internet. New information and communication technologies
are frequently designed to foster increased mobility within these spheres.
Web search engines, for example, have emerged as a vital and increasingly
ubiquitous tool for the successful navigation of the growing online
informational sphere. As Google puts it, the goal is to "organize the world's
information and make it universally accessile and useful", and to create the
"perfect search engine" that would understand exactly what you mean and give
back exactly what you want.
While intended to enhance intellectual mobility, this dissertation will reveal
that the quest for the perfect search engine is actually a Faustian bargain:
While designed to foster increased navigation within our spheres of mobility,
the search for the perfect search engine also empowers the widespread capture
of personal information flows across the Internet. Drawing from historical
examples from other spheres of mobility - including vehicle tracking systems,
library surveillance, and DRM - the dissertation will argue that the drive for
the perfect search engine constitutes a violation of the contextual integrity
of personal information flows, restricting the ability to engage in social,
cultural, and intellectual activities online free from answerability and
oversight, thereby limiting users' full realization of the levels of
autonomy, self-determination, and self-definition traditionally afforded
within our spheres of mobility.
Working within the methodological framework of value-conscious design, this
dissertation will engage in a conceptual investigation of the relevant values
that might be supported or diminished by the design of the perfect search
engine, as well as a technical investigation of the design features of
the perfect search engine itself, thereby contributing to future pragmatic
attempts to design the perfect search engine in order to protect the values
traditionally enjoyed in our spheres of mobility.