CT-M: Theory and Practice of Accountable Systems

负责任制度的理论和实践项目调查信息网络的计算和社会属性，这些属性是提供对信息使用规则和政策遵守情况的可靠评估所必需的。在之前的研究中，项目负责人已经证明，在开放信息网络中实现基本的社会政策目标，将需要通过事后发现违规行为来增加对信息问责制的依赖。这种方法与网络环境中传统的策略遵从机制形成对比，后者依靠安全技术通过拒绝对有滥用风险的资源的访问来执行规则。因此，基于可及性的系统必须辅之以基于问责制的系统。为确保负责任的制度能够提供一个稳定、可靠和值得信赖的基础，以便在未来制定社会政策安排，必须：1)研究大规模设计这些系统的实用工程方法；2)发展问责系统的运行动力学理论，以确定可以进行何种类型的问责评估，何时这些断言是可靠的，以及问责系统可能有哪些漏洞受到攻击、入侵和操纵。关于信息问责制，需要检验的关键假设是，如果人们相信自己的违规行为会被注意到，他们就更有可能遵守规则（社会或法律）。问责制的成功研究和发展最终将使真实的人、社区和机构能够利用信息问责制作为实现更好的隐私和遵守其他信息使用规则的手段。

The project on the Theory and Practice of Accountable Systems investigates computational and social properties of information networks necessary to provide reliable assessments of compliance with rules and policies governing the use of information. In prior research, project leaders have demonstrated that achieving basic social policy goals in open information networks will require increased reliance on information accountability through after-the- fact detection of rule violations. This approach stands in contrast to the traditional mechanisms of policy compliance in network environments that rely on security technology to enforce rules by denial of access to resources at risk of abuse. So, access-based systems must be supplemented with accountability-based systems. To ensure that accountable systems can provide a stable, reliable, trustworthy basis on which to ground social policy arrangements in the future, it is necessary: 1) to research practical engineering approaches to designing these systems at scale, and 2) to develop a theory of the operating dynamics of accountable systems in order to establish what types of accountability assessments can be made, when those assertions are reliable, and what vulnerabilities accountable systems may have to attack, intrusion and manipulation. The key hypothesis to be tested regarding Information Accountability is that people are more likely to comply with rules (social or legal) if they believe that their non-compliance will be noticed. Successful study and development of accountable systems will ultimately enable real people, communities and institutions to take advantage of Information Accountability as a means of achieving better privacy and compliance with other information usage rules.