INFORMATION PROCESSING, CONTEXT and PRIVACY Alan Dix

This paper is about an old concept, data processing, but one that has taken on new meaning with the increasing complexity and interconnection of systems and the burgeoning of expert systems and connectionism. Classical information theory has been found to be inadequate even in the relatively formal context of security, but this inadequacy is intensified when we consider more human issues like privacy. Further, writers like Suchman and Winograd & Flores emphasise context in understanding communication and information. Relating these issues to a simple information life-cycle, this paper questions how we can retain an understanding of human issues when interacting with such complex systems.