Data security and privacy: can we have both?

Proposed data protection laws would require companies to delete information that could allow an individual to be identified, but existing data storage and duplication practices are at odds with the drive to protect our right to privacy.

The ‘right to be forgotten’ is one of many concepts that could be introduced into new EU legislation on data protection later this year, but according to some within the data processing industry, most firms are still a long way from being able to comply.

Central to the idea of being digitally forgotten is the concept of anonymisation – stripping personally identifiable details out of data such that anyone coming into possession of it would be unable to trace the individuals to whom it refers.

SOURCE: theguardian.com