Privacy or Security?
Posted by Kraig Baker
One more thought about the presentations Thursday at the IAPP's Privacy Academy 2005 here in Vegas. It is increasingly clear to me that no one has figured out the ongoing tension between "security" and "privacy". These two concepts often get lumped together, but in addition to being complementary in some ways, they are, in many ways, conflicting. One can see the tension in almost every presentation at the conference.
The clearest dichotomy is in the area of database development and management. Those emphasizing security suggest that developing comprehensive databases is the best way to ensure the security of an enterprise. Those emphasizing privacy suggest that amassing all of this data into a single place is hugely dangerous. What's most interesting is that people's views seem to shift based on the context. No one seems to be "pure privacy" or "pure security."