bout consumers is overly constrained, a substantial negative economic impact can not be discounted. In addition, there must be stricter controls for an especially sensitive information such as medical data. If a centralized national database becomes a reality, it will be necessary to achieve a broad public consensus on the definition of the health care trustees who should have access to that data. In summary, then, if informed consent is made mandatory for the reuse of consumer data and there are stricter safeguards for more critical information such as medical data, we can begin to make some progress in protecting privacy rights. But unless we should come to terms with this problem the boundaries between what is public and private could become much more tenuous. A world where privacy is in such short supply will undermine our freedom and dignity and pose a great threat to our security and well being. But what is the future of the Internet? The Internet is moving from a relatively passive publishing medium to a truly interactive application deployment platform. It will clearly continue to grow at a fast pace as more and more businesses and individuals discover its power. According to Dataquest, the market analysts, a new Internet account is added every two minutes. Whilst there is no guarantee that the businesses connecting to the Net will "make it big", it is obvious that those which don't will be left behind. But one thing is certain: The Internet is dynamic, will sustain high growth rates and will serve as the platform for international commerce well into the foreseeable future. Today the Internet is a highly effective tool for communicating, for gathering information and for cooperation between dispersed locations. There is continuous development and improvement. The growing list of applications serves as testament to this: advertising, communication, shopping, banking, to name just a few. Many businesses are discovering new ways to...
