Privacy In Electronic Commerce

Welcome to the second volume of the Kluwer International Series on ADVANCES IN INFORMATION SECURITY. The goals of this series are, one, to establish the state of the art of and set the course for future research in information security and, two, to serve as a central reference and timely topics in information security research source for advanced and development. The scope of this series includes all aspects of com puter and network security and related areas such as fault tolerance and software assurance. ADVANCES IN INFORMATION SECURITY aims to publish thor ough and cohesive overviews of specific topics in information security, as well as works that are larger in scope or that contain more detailed background information than can be accommodated in shorter survey articles. The series also serves as a forum for topics that may not have reached a level of maturity to warrant a comprehensive textbook treat ment. The success of this series depends on contributions by researchers and developers such as yourself. If you have an idea for a book that is appro priate for this series, I encourage you to contact either the Acquisitions Editor for the series, Lance Wobus ([email protected]), or myself, the Consulting Editor for the series ([email protected]). We would be happy about to discuss any potential projects with you. Additional information this series can be obtained from www.wkap.nljseries.htmjADIS.

The financial services sector has had a respectable track record in the protection of consumer privacy. However, business practices, industry consolidation, electronic commerce and economic trends have raised consumer privacy as a key issue in the financial services sector. Improvements in the rapid transfer of information provide a new medium for the purchase of goods and services, that is, the medium of electronic commerce. The European Union has forced the issue with the Data Protection Directive. As a result, the United States has had to debate the lack of regulation or standards governing the new medium of electronic commerce. The debate could hinder any advance by society to engage in new technology. Because of increased government attention through regulatory and legislative action, corporations are developing self-regulatory initiatives to create industry standards for electronic commerce. Consumer privacy deals with how and what types of information are collected and how the data is controlled and accessed. Consumer concepts of privacy will resist or allow different configurations of what is allowable and what is utilized. The book is an exploratory and descriptive study that assesses the privacy concerns of today's consumer, as well as determines the potential impact of consumer privacy concerns on technological innovation and public policy. In order to understand privacy concerns, the study builds and extends current quantitative research on privacy in the financial service sector. Current research was developed to assess the privacy concerns of consumers. It was not designed to analyze or evaluate the specific impact of privacy on underrepresented consumers. The study expands research to focus on this particular segment of the population. Using privacy as the foundational issue/motivation for developing perspectives on financial education, the study focuses on people of color in the financial mainstream of our economy.

The steady growth of internet commerce over the past twenty years has given rise to a host of new legal issues in a broad range of fields. This authoritative Research Handbook comprises chapters by leading scholars which will provide a solid foundation for newcomers to the subject and also offer exciting new insights that will further the understanding of e-commerce experts. Key topics covered include: contracting, payments, intellectual property, extraterritorial enforcement, alternative dispute resolution, social media, consumer protection, network neutrality, online gambling, domain name governance, and privacy.

The historic European Union Directive on Data Protection will take effect in October 1998. A key provision will prohibit transfer of personal information from Europe to other countries if they lack “adequate” protection of privacy. If enforced as written, the Directive could create enormous obstacles to commerce between Europe and other countries, such as the United States, that do not have comprehensive privacy statutes. In this book, Peter Swire and Robert Litan provide the first detailed analysis of the sector-by-sector effects of the Directive. They examine such topics as the text of the Directive, the tension between privacy laws and modern information technologies, issues affecting a wide range of businesses and other organizations, effects on the financial services sector, and effects on other prominent sectors with large transborder data flows. In light of the many and significant effects of the Directive as written, the book concludes with detailed policy recommendations on how to avoid a coming trade war with Europe. The book will be of interest to the wide range of individuals and organizations affected by the important new European privacy laws. More generally, the privacy clash discussed in the book will prove a major precedent for how electronic commerce and world data flows will be governed in the Internet Age.