Lost and found in cyberspace: Informational privacy in the age of the Internet

This article discusses: 1. how privacy may be invaded electronically, 2. the tools and procedures that are available to help protect individual privacy, 3. the state of the law regarding the rights of individuals to control the disclosure of their personal information, and 4. proposed fair information practices guidelines. As is discussed, a comprehensive federal policy is needed which will guarantee individuals the right to control the collection and distribution of their personal information. A vital component of this policy would be an information privacy protection statute which incorporates the basic tenets of fair information practices: 1. the right to limit data collection, data transfers and secondary uses; 2. the right to access one's personal data and to make corrections; 3. the right to have one's personal data maintained securely; and 4. the right to be informed of data collection and transfer.