databases. Sharing information can be appropriate in some commercial settings. Many consumers appreciate having products and services tailored to their individual needs or profiles, as long as their privacy isn't unduly compromised. But to protect privacy, access should be denied to people who don't have a legitimate reason for the information they seek. A nosy neighbor shouldn't be able to check your credit rating. Society must define the appropriate purposes for specific kinds of information and fashion ways to confine the use of the information to those purposes. It won't be easy, but it is possible. Individuals and organizations can do their part by making the protection of privacy an important objective. As people wake up to how much information about them is stored on computers and how it can be used, the issue of privacy will command more and more the attention from the powers that be....
