This chapter introduces privacy with respect to data processing and defines the theoretical concepts that underpin this book. First, it presents the main actors: online service providers and data subjects, personal data and how they are used. Second, it explains the link between data subjects and their personal data; that is, it defines data privacy as informational self-determination (or autonomy) of the individual and puts it in a wider theoretical context. It also describes the nature of data privacy as a process of controlled self-revelation. Third, it focuses on the crucial element of this definition - autonomy. It explains what autonomy is and how autonomous choices are related to individual consent. Furthermore, it discusses problems of consent and shows how to exercise autonomous choice in respect of privacy process.

THE SCOPE: PERSONAL DATA COLLECTION AND USE BY SERVICE PROVIDERS

DATA AND INFORMATION

Dictionaries often treat ‘data’ and ‘information’ as synonyms, but these notions need to be distinguished. Information is a semantic concept, which can be understood as structured (or well-formed) data that mean something. Data are tangible, manageable objects that can be conceptualised as quantified parts of (potential) information. They are represented in a digital world by bits and their collections constitute larger parts, such as characters or records. They need some structure, but what gives them meaning is the interpretation and understanding of a data user in a particular context and with particular knowledge. Knowledge is both a factor enabling interpretation and a product of information processing (because factual, true information is a necessary precondition for knowledge). Finally, if information and knowledge distilled from the ‘raw material’ - data relate to individuals, they may provide a basis for decisions and actions that affect their positions.

The development of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has enabled the processing of an increasing amount of data, including those related to identifiable individuals - personal data. Technological advancement means that the Internet is now a place for commerce and services, a backbone of business and a medium of communication for more than 3.5 billion individual users. But all online activities generate traces of data - for example, web searching generates browsing history; shopping or interacting on social networks produce histories of activities; and mobile terminals generate streams of data related to location, detected networks or readings from different sensors.