Controlling Sensitive Information

Abstract

During the past decade, there has been a dramatic growth in the quantity of personal information that is being collected and sold, and the expansion of the Internet has significantly facilitated this development. Unfortunately, the data collection industry has gone largely unregulated, allowing databanks like ChoicePoint and Acxiom to collect massive amounts of information and sell them to third parties, without any express permission from the data subjects. Insufficient regulation of this industry has not only led to blatant violations of the privacy rights of the individuals whose information is being sold but also to security risks. This paper will discuss a standard evaluating the process of personal information collection, the ways in which the current system fail to meet these standards, and technical and legal suggestions for addressing these failures.

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