Privacy now and in the age of ambient intelligence

摘要

The central question of this paper is the future of privacy. After a short introduction to the concept and the evaluation methodology of privacy, we apply this methodology to the coming changing world. According to available predictions this is the world of ambient intelligence, which is based on large scale information exchange to provide a convenient environment to humans. However, privacy is usually based on restricting information. Is there a convenient equilibrium point between ambient intelligence and privacy? This paper does not give a definitive answer, but it tries to clarify the issues, the stakeholders and possible solutions.