Personal Information Privacy and Internet Technology

Abstract

Concerns about the collection of personal information by Internet technology and the possibility of misuse of that information are a primary reason why people limit their use of the Internet and are even limiting the success of e-commerce (Szewczak, 2004). Various uses of technology that collect and/or disseminate personal information include corporate and government databases, e-mail, wireless communications, clickstream tracking, hardware and software watermarks, and biometric devices. The main challenge to personal information privacy is the surreptitious monitoring of user behavior on the Internet without the user’s consent and the possible misuse of the collected information resulting in financial and personal harm to the user. Our focus is primarily on Internet use in the United States of America, though clearly the technology is global in nature and poses challenges and issues for societies around the world.