About
Portrait of Cardinal Richelieu, 1637
Six Lines is a blog about computer security, digital privacy, and technology policy by Aaron Massey. The name and unifying theme of this blog come from the following quote:
“Give me six lines written by the most honorable of men, and I will find an excuse in them to hang him.”
— Cardinal Richelieu
Cardinal Richelieu was a power-hungry authoritarian who understood key elements of security and privacy. First, he recognized that small mistakes can result in big problems. This is particularly true in computer security and digital privacy where a simple programming error can have complex repercussions. Second, Richelieu knew that even honorable people attempting to do the right thing sometimes end up hurting their cause. Digital privacy problems often suffer a similar fate. Individuals and organizations may collect, use, or share information with the best intentions and end up causing serious problems. Third, Richelieu recognizes the importance of political power to affect the lives of honest people. As politics have started to react to new technologies, understanding the effects of political power has become more and more important to technologists.
My interest in computer security, digital privacy, and technology policy began simply as a fascination with technology. I am consistently amazed that even six lines of code in the hands of an expert can accomplish quite a lot of work. My interest broadened to include the political and ethical implications of technology after reading Database Nation as a student at Purdue. As an engineer and scientist, I approach politics with an open mind and a heavy reliance on data, reason, and logic. I favor small governments, free markets, peace, fiscal conservatism, and social liberalism. The Technology Liberation Front and Bottom-Up are blogs with similar technology policy interests.
Here at Six Lines, there are two basic types of posts. The first type of post is a relatively short blurb about an article of interest. My aim with these posts is to identify the interesting, compelling, or novel security and privacy stories and avoid the run-of-the-mill, average, or over-covered stories. I will not attempt to be comprehensive. If you are looking for a comprehensive technology news site, then I would recommend Slashdot or Ars Technica. The second type of post is a longer essay or book review on a particular topic. These posts will be preceded by a solid triangle pointing to the title (▶) and appear in the essay and book review categories respectively. My aim in these posts is to discuss over-arching concerns in computer security, digital privacy, and technology policy. This blog format is sometimes called the short-links-and-longer-articles format. Popular sites using this format include Daring Fireball and Kottke.
Since Six Lines is currently a one-man operation, you may want to know more about me. To that end, here is a paragraph that I use as a short bio for conferences and presentations:
My name is Aaron Massey. I’m a doctoral student at North Carolina State University in the Computer Science department focusing on computer security and privacy issues. I am working with Dr. Annie Antón as a member of ThePrivacyPlace.org. You can find more information about my doctoral research on my NCSU page. During the summer of 2009 I worked with Dr. Eugene Spafford at CERIAS on legal compliance and auditing in software systems. As a recipient of a 2008 Google Policy Fellowship, I spent the summer of 2008 working with Jim Harper, Directory of Information Policy Studies at the Cato Institute. I am also the recipient of the 2008-2009 Walter H. Wilkinson Graduate Research Ethics Fellowship, which enabled my study of the ethics of behavioral advertising technologies. I have a BS in Computer Engineering from Purdue University and an MS in Computer Science from North Carolina State University. I am a student member of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). I am also a member of the USACM Public Policy committee. I’m originally from Noblesville, Indiana, which is just northeast of Indianapolis.
All content posted on Six Lines represents my own personal opinion and not the opinion of any of my current or past employers.
