Privacy in the electronic society

Internet provides unprecedented opportunities for the collection and sharing of privacy-sensitive information from and about users. Information about users is collected every day, as they join associations or groups, shop for groceries, or execute most of their common daily activities. Such information is subsequently processed, exchanged and shared between different parties; with users often having users have often little control over their personal information once it has been disclosed to third parties. Privacy is then becoming an increasing concern. In this paper we discuss some problems to be addressed in the protection of information in our electronic society, surveying ongoing work and open issues to be investigated.