Privacy Rights in the Information Economy

The protection of personal privacy rights is rapidly emerging as one of the l most volatile and intractable problems of the computer age. Ominous reports tolling the death knell of privacy frequently appear in the media, while polls show that a vast majority of Americans are extremely disquieted by this steady evaporation of their personal privacy. Survey data reveal that 80 percent of Americans believe that they have lost control over their personal data (Louis Harris, 1993). The primary reason for this deep concern is that information has become a commodity which can be sold and exchanged quite easily. This has given rise to a new industry of data brokers collecting data from many different sources for the purpose of developing targeted mailing lists for their clients. Those sources might include census data, driver information from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), magazine subscription lists, or credit bureau reports. Almost every time a person orders a catalogue, makes a charitable contribution, purchases something with a credit card or through mail order, that person's name and personal data becomes part of a list that can be rented or sold. Prior to the widespread use of computer technology, our personal information had no real tangible value beyond the immediate transaction. When data was provided by consumers there was no opportunity for its profitable reuse. Hence the information remained with the recipient and was considered to be proprietary and off limits for any secondary utilization. But now, thanks to data storage and retrieval capabilities, the information does have some commercial value, and the issue of who owns and controls that information has considerable saliency. In this review article we will briefly consider the reasons behind this erosion of privacy and examine why privacy has been such a significant value in the