Information policy disputes in Iceland

Abstract

This article discusses disputes in Iceland in the last years. Information policy in Iceland has three main strands. The first is the policy laid out by the government in 1995 and 1996, mainly defining the public sector as a buyer of information services. This policy gave the new information industries wide berth to make them better suited to create new jobs. Within that broad policy, individual ministries had scope to form their own policies. The Ministry for Education, Culture and Science has used the opportunity to subscribe nationally to a host of databases. The second strand is the Health Sector Database which sprang from a business idea and has been controversial ever since. The third strand is personal data protection and privacy, where Iceland follows Europe closely. Since the main field of dispute has been the formation of the Health Sector Database, a great part of the article discusses legal, ethical and social questions concerning that database.