Is There Really a Conflict Between Privacy and Personalisation?

Abstract

There is growing concern about the protection of user privacy on the Internet. Yet, through the customisation of systems to each individual user, the provision of personal information offers significant benefits in terms of usability. There would appear to be a conflict between privacy and personalisation and a need for a balance to be struck between them. This keynote argues that the apparent conflict is the result of a particular perspective on the problem, a perspective which assumes that the individual user is limited to a binary decision on whether or not to disclose items of personal information to all and sundry or to nobody. There are many reasons why this assumption is made. Investigation of these reasons indicates that they are not inescapable and reveals an alternative approach to the design of personalised systems in which the user can retain full control of what they disclose to whom.