The first problem is the government that makes the rules. This is because the prime directive of every government -- every government -- is to perpetuate and extend itself. Therefore when there are opportunities (like 11 September, or 07 July) then government rolls out ways to capture and retain more data ... in the name off national security most likely. But then it has perpetuated and extended itself into keeping track of more and more of the populace as its 'regular function'. The second problem is the private sector. Once data accumulation and retention techonolgy is available, private companies put the technology to use. They are also sometimes aided by things like September 11 and 7 July. In the wake of the World Trade Center disaster one of the big data collection and mining companies in the US suggested to the government that they do a project on facial recognition from airport cameras, got the contract, and funded themselves to becoming THE biggest data collection and mining source ... ChoicePoint. But once data exists in these huge, minable databases, the data seems to get stolen, lost, or simply misused. Then millions of people are at risk of all kinds of harm. And how did it happen ... because the techology was there and the government allowed and maybe encouraged it. In Sweden they used to have a Data Privacy Commission that would visit companies to audit and make sure each company was only keeping on people the data that was necessary to keep, and that it was being kept safely without excessive risk of loss or misuse. In other countries there may be more of a laissez faire approach, that anyone in the private sector ought to be able to collect and keep whatever they want, and sell it to whomever they want. (Wouldn't you like to see the client list that Google sell to! Government intelligence agencies, foreign governments, and the like included.) The question is what to do about it ... allow anyone and everyone to freely accumulate, mine, and sell whatever data they wish ... or follow the old Swedish plan and restrict it severely. It is a thorny question, and a dialog that will be continuing for years. Good for you, Suw, for being in the middle of it at the leading edge of the issues. Have you considered having an advert agency join the cause and prepare a marketing campaign to help raise money?