[ Changed 25th January 1997 ]
The Information Society will soon be upon us. Government and the private sector are looking to the new information technologies as a means of delivering goods and services more efficiently, more profitably and less expensively. Smart Cards and Active Badges to personalise network systems, Multimedia Work Space systems, e-mail communication can all be a benefit to the individual. At the same time these systems have the capability of increasingly tracking and recording our activities. They create a surveillance society by accident.
This need not be so. Technologies can be implemented to enhance and not invade personal privacy. Privacy enhancing technology should be the approach of the ethical engineer.