Privacy of personal information is referred to variously as ‘data privacy’ and ‘information privacy’. Individuals rarely want data about themselves to be automatically available to other individuals and organizations. Even where another party is possessing the data, the individual should be able to exercise a substantial degree of control over that data and its use. The last six decades have seen the application of information technologies that have had substantial impacts on information privacy.

Personal Information Issues

The nature of the personal information.

• • “sensitive personal data” as defined by the Data Protection Act 1998,
  • Personal financial information
  • family structures,
  • home and personal email addresses,
  • information about persons considered “at risk”,
  • Travel plans

The quality of personal information

• • characteristics of the information itself–accuracy, relevance and adequacy.
  • The further personal information moves from its original context, the greater the likelihood that someone can misinterpret it.
  • data matching and mining–whether matching are accurate

The retention, deletion and destruction of personal information.

• • How long do your business needs require retention of information?
  • Are there legal obligations to dispose of or keep data?
  • Do you need to keep information to counter legal claims or for audit and inspection purposes?
  • Can your organization make better use of ‘soft deletion’, where after the original purpose has been met, access to the information is much more tightly controlled until the organization can permanently delete it?

Tips on safeguarding our personal information

• Read the posted privacy policies of the websites you visit.
• Note the independent seals of approval from trustworthy third parties such as BBB (Better Business Bureau program) online.
• If you can’t find the website’s privacy policy, contact the administrator and ask for a copy of their privacy policy.
• Before responding to online sweepstakes, online games or surveys, read both the privacy policy and any additional information to find out who will use your personal information.
• Check whether any website that collects your personal information allows you to opt out in the future.