Legal and ethical issues of information

The emergence and growth of the information society have meant that many questions relating to information have become important both for society as a whole and for professionals working in the field of information. Among these questions is the legal regulation of information as such and of information-related topics together with ethical considerations in connection with use of information. Although it is not evident that legal and ethical questions can be discussed together it is on the other hand possible Its some of the legal rules among other things are based upon ethical considerations. Joining legal and ethical issues can with this background be fruitful. In any case I hope that the forthcoming remarks will demonstrate that this is possible. For me personally I was pleased that the conference organizers asked me also to address the ethical questions. This has been stimulating as I have had to consider problems which I do not talk or write about every day.