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Privacy lost: The Net, autonomous agents, and ‘virtual information’

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Abstract

The positive qualities of the Internet--anonymity, openness, and reproducibility have added a new ethical dimension to the privacy debate. This paper describes a new and significant way in which privacy is violated. A type of personal information, called ‘virtual information’ is described and the effectiveness of techniques to protect this type of information is examined. This examination includes a discussion of technical approaches and professional standards as ways to address this violation of ‘virtual information.’

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Software Engineering Ethic Research Institute, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, 37614-0656, USA. E-mail

    Donald Gotterbarn

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  1. Donald Gotterbarn
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Gotterbarn, D. Privacy lost: The Net, autonomous agents, and ‘virtual information’. Ethics and Information Technology 1, 147–154 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010011512024

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010011512024

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