Privacy v. information access: securing the distribution and communication of data and confidential information.

• Author: Fall, James R.
• Position: ADVICE / TECHNOLOGY

IN THE WAKE OF corporate scandals, loss of personal financial and medical information and identity theft, there is a growing conflict of privacy versus information access. Corporations in the global digital economy have increasing needs for rapid decision making through the free flow of information. Individuals are transacting personal business with a wide range of financial and health-care services outside the local community of providers.

In the corporate world, Sarbanes-Oxley created a new set of demands for secure document retention for extended periods of time with immediate accessibility.

This holds true for paper documents and electronic documents. Document accessibility, while maintaining the integrity of the document is critical. And, job functions are performed in one location with information shared or output distributed within the building or in buildings in different countries.

Personal privacy and protection of financial and medical records is testing the limits of legal and technology constraints. Legislation to protect personal financial information--Gramm-Leach Bliley Act--and personal medical information--Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)--has been put in place with companies struggling to keep up with their requirements.

To meet these privacy and security requirements, there are two parts to addressing the issue. The first is securing the storage of the digital data and paper documents. The second is securing the distribution and communication of data and confidential information.

Most attention in the corporation and the press has focused on the security or sometimes seemingly lack of security in the storage of data. Of the data security problems, this is the easiest problem to fix. You lock it up and throw away the key

The problem comes when you want people to use and share the information for a variety of legitimate purposes. This is the second security step of enabling the legitimate use while ensuring security and privacy. This problem of protecting against unlawful use and distribution of information resides in every organization...