Intelligent Software Agents: Turning a Privacy Threat into a Privacy Protector

Organization

Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ontario

Published

1999

Summary

The objective of this study is to investigate the possibilities of protecting the privacy of a consumer in an agent-based environment. To accomplish this objective the following question needs to be addressed: What possibilities are there to protect the privacy of a consumer in an agent-based environment? In attempting to answer this question, the following, more specific, questions arise:

Why do software agents exist?
What are software agents?
How do software agents work?
Where are software agents applied?
What is the future of software agents?
What implementations of software agents already exist?
What is privacy?
What threats to privacy can be attributed to software agents?
What (technical) measures are there to eliminate or reduce the impact of these threats?

Chapter two provides answers to the following questions: Why do software agents exist? What are software agents? How do software agents work? Where are software agents applied? What is the future of software agents? What implementations of software agents already exist? Chapter three describes the rudiments of privacy. Chapter four answers the question: What threats can be attributed to software agents? Chapter five describes the PETs (technical measures) that could reduce or eliminate the impact of the identified threats. Chapter six provides a summary of the conclusions and recommendations arising from the study.

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Source: Consumer Policy Research Database