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Designing databases that enhance people’s privacy without hindering organizations

Towards informational self-determination

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Abstract

We argue that future database systems must provide autonomy for individuals for the privacy of data they manage. We propose a design for such a system, identify challenges and problems, and suggest some approaches to these. We enunciate the reasons for informational self-determination systems, which include legal, organizational and technical issues. Our main goal is to achieve a widely-accepted realistic and practical solution in order to ensure privacy for individuals in our future world, yet without hindering business and security.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Security Studies, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) ETH Zentrum, LEH D 6, Zurich, 8092, Switzerland

    Thomas B. Hodel-Widmer

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  1. Thomas B. Hodel-Widmer
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Correspondence to Thomas B. Hodel-Widmer.

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Hodel-Widmer, T.B. Designing databases that enhance people’s privacy without hindering organizations. Ethics Inf Technol 8, 3–15 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-006-9105-3

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