In this situation there is a very real danger that the question of privacy might be hijacked by those with a narrow outlook on the problem. Perhaps the more significant public concern is one of trust rather than privacy. One guideline often applied is that data, especially personal data, should only be used for the purposes for which it was gathered, and by those to whom it was directly supplied. From the point of view of increasing competitiveness, it could be argued there are virtues in allowing organisations to exploit data from outside their own sector. The public concern is with trust rather than privacy.
Customers tend to be looking to have choice over privacy and trust that works.
There is a need for greater clarity on, and awareness of, the appropriate rules for passing personal data between organisations. In practice there may need to be stronger protection mechanisms over privacy within the workplace than in the market place.