It is clear that the implications of the new information technologies affect personal privacy. Recently there was a story in the New York Times on the future development of a "new hire" database aimed to& locate; elusive deadbeat parents who don't pay child support,and how such database could be used for illegitimate purposes as well.
New information technologies give rise to the classic double edged sword: their benefits are clear but they might be misused in order to abuse personal privacy and for purposes of social control. Law experts are trying now to constitute a framework which enables the benefits of these technologies while minimizing its negative consequences. However, information technologies are advancing at such a pace that laws are not keeping up. There is an increased public access to computerized public records through the internet, many of them containing personally identifiable information. A recent poll of internet users found that 75% of respondents believe there are privacy problems in putting public records with personally identifiable information on the Internet, even though they can obtain them in manual form.
And of course, there is a problem of increasing integration of data from many sources, along with the blurring of distinction between public and private sector data.