Privacy, Security, and Data Integrity

The 1997 Mid-year Meeting of the American Society for Information Science (ASIS) was held in Scottsdale, Arizona, the first week of June. As the heat reached triple digits outside, 300 ASIS members and interested others inside held heated discussions on issues surrounding "Information Privacy, Security, and Data Integrity."

The timing was good -- just a week before the Federal Trade Commission hearings about online privacy. A poll released at the hearings showed that over half of the computer users in the U.S. support laws on computer privacy, and major companies such as Microsoft and Netscape are supporting technological safeguards to protect Web site visitors' privacy.

The ASIS meeting held sessions that discussed legal, technological, and ethical protections of online users' privacy. Privacy in the personal arena and privacy in the professional arena were both covered, although there may be inherent conflicts. As individuals, we may want stringent safeguards to protect our privacy, while in our information workplaces we may be charged with gathering as much information as possible about other companies or about individuals.