The cyber trust tension in E-government: Balancing identity, privacy, security

Abstract

The growing use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICTs) in e-government services raises important new issues of 'cyber trust' that could have a significant influence on governance structures and practices in the future. This paper argues that at the heart of debates about cyber trust in e-government is a 'trust tension' between the need to collect data on individuals as the basis for providing services and fears about the inappropriate use of personal information gathered, stored, and analysed using ICTs. It draws on studies of experiences in e-commerce and e-business, as well as e-government, to illuminate the nature of cyber trust and its wider social dimensions, including the main related challenges faced in e-government and some strategies, products and services for dealing with them.