Personal information privacy: implications for MIS managers

Recent media attention to information privacy issues has shown that citizen s are increasingly concerned about information privacy and their right to i t. Governmental and other organizations have been collecting data about ind ividuals at an increasing and. to many, alarming rate. The ability to gathe r so much information on individuals is largely because of advances in info rmation technology (IT). It is important for IS managers and professionals to understand the issues surrounding personal information privacy in order to protect the rights of those from and about whom they collect data. A mod el is presented to provide managers guidance in dealing with privacy policy . Taking a proactive stance against privacy invasion could help stave off g overnment intervention in passing legislation to create tighter controls ov er what can be done with an individual's personal data. (C) 1999 Elsevier S cience B.V. All rights reserved.