Protecting Personal Information: Obstacles and Directions

We present a framework for comparing and evaluating approaches for achieving electronic informational privacy. Our framework focuses on the issues of decision-making, negotiation, and enforcement, which are fundamental in determining what personal information is considered private and what uses of that information are considered improper. Our analysis of four leading approaches finds that none adequately address all three issues. This analysis explains why market-based approaches are currently infeasible, and why regulatory approaches are a reasonable interim solution. We also suggest research directions that could lead to more flexible