Conversion of Partial Visibility Into Availability and Permission: How a Visible Record of Someone's Time Can Be Read as a Claim on It
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This conceptual paper introduces Conversion of Partial Visibility Into Availability and Permission, a mechanism in which a partial record of time or activity is treated as a complete account of availability. Access to that record may also be treated as permission to schedule or demand an explanation. The paper separates evidence about availability from authority to act. Assumptions about completeness and permission can arise independently. Shared displays may aid coordination, and some records are complete for their purpose. The analysis asks whether a particular inference and use are supported by the record and the relationship. The discussion connects the mechanism to Nissenbaum’s account of contextual integrity and examines Park’s study of shared calendars at a British academic institution. In the reported episode, a lecturer’s calendar did not show planned lecture preparation, and its apparent gap became a reason to challenge her refusal of a meeting. The availability inference is documented; the inference from access to authority remains less certain. Part of the Power, Permission, and Obligation series within On Human Modeling, the paper examines how visible records create expectations and place a burden of explanation on the person recorded. Its framework can inform human–AI research on how scheduling assistants distinguish visible records, actual availability, and authorization to act.
Author: Cary, Alexandra
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225814001
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