Database Privacy Balancing Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability

The emphasis in database privacy should fall on a balance between confidentiality, integrity and availability of personal data, rather than on confidentiality alone. This balance should not necessarily be a trade-off, but should take into account the sensitive nature of the data being stored and attempt to increase all three dimensions to the highest level possible. To achieve such a balance, technological means should be developed. The paper illustrates some of the inherent problems in database privacy that should be addressed by technical solutions. It next demonstrates that the notion of privacy is complex; this complexity is likely to impede development of technical solutions. Finally, the paper finally uses the notion of informed consent to illustrate how the privacy problem can be viewed from multiple angles to flesh out the underlying problems that may be addressed by technical solutions.