Individual Privacy:

        Privacy is one of our basic rights. Internet privacy is thus an Important issue. Large companies and governments can afford the extra expenses for the transfer of classified material or for secure Communication settings. This is not the case when comes to individuals and small companies. Furthermore, the Internet is becoming an important means for communication and exchange of important and personal data. For this reason and many other reasons internet privacy has been gaining importance.

        Many programs have been designed to deal with this issue. Cryptography has present for a very long time, and recent advances in cryptography allowed people to write software for data protection. One of the most effective programs is PGP (Pretty Good Privacy). The program is available for use only in the US and Canada because of export restrictions by the US Government. An International edition has been compiled outside the US and its use is legal according to the author. It provides the same safety standards as the domestic edition and is also free. Other less serious and weaker cryptographic programs are available as built-in encryptors in Pegasus Mail and outlook.
 

Privacy for professionals:

        Many professional workers need strong protection of the data that they have. These may be Doctors (protection of medical records and thus patient privacy), Lawyers, Scientists, Bankers, etc... . The advances in communication and telemedicine necessitates the use of effective means to protect the exchanged information. With the shift to primary care and with the decrease in the number of hospitals in the coming few years, this field will gain great importance.
 
 
Few Privacy Links:

• Internet Privacy Coalition.
• Electronic Privacy Information Center.
• The International PGP Home Page.
• GnuPG4Win
• GnuPG
• The comp.security.pgp FAQ.
• RSA FAQ.