ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the developments in terms of two principal concepts - trust and risk - that are prominent in much contemporary social and political analysis, and that have also become touchstones in discourses involving the use of personal data. The relevance of trust to processes involving personal data is amply recognized in at least the rhetoric of policy. Personal data revealing racial origin, political opinions or religious or other beliefs, as well as personal data concerning health or sexual life, may not be processed automatically unless domestic law provides appropriate safeguards. Levels of public trust in organizations which process personal data are variable but sometimes very low, as is confidence in existing protective instruments. The investigation of trust and risk concerning privacy is not uniquely tortuous. It is worth considering a wider canvas, and recalling that contemporary policyrelated debate about risk analysis in other fields confronts similar conundrums.
