Options for Promoting Privacy on the National Information Infrastructure. Draft211 for Public Comment

摘要

This Options Paper explores the growing public concern about personal information211u001eprivacy. The paper describes the status of electronic data protection and fair 211u001einformation practices in the United States today, beginning with a discussion of 211u001ethe 'Principles for Providing and Using Personal Information' issued by the 211u001eInformation Infrastructure Task Force in 1995. It then provides an overview of 211u001enew information technologies, which shows that personal information is currently 211u001ecollected, shared, aggregated, and disseminated at a rate and to a degree 211u001eunthinkable just a few years ago. We next consider in more detail the laws and 211u001epolicies affecting information privacy in four specific areas: government 211u001erecords, communications, medical records, and the consumer market. This 211u001eexamination reveals that information privacy policy in the United States consists 211u001eof various laws, regulations and practices, woven together to produce privacy 211u001eprotection that varies from sector to sector.