To date, there have been too few studies of confidentiality and privacy on relationship with
good governance. Much attention is given to transparency and accountability. There is no
clear explanation for this (Bennett, 2001). To the initial question, whether there can be good
governance without confidentiality and privacy, a preliminary answer is hard to find. This is
due to the fact that actors will try to withdraw from the public sphere and the sphere of
public authority will try to dominate the public sphere. To preserve the public sphere,
privacy should be protected and the need for transparency should be regulated. As it was
argued in this article, in today’s public sphere, the boundary between the public and theprivate sphere has become vague and blurred. More legislation and social dialog is
required to ensure privacy and fair information practices. The primary function of legislation
is to set borders and norms, not primarily to prevent violations. By opening public debate,
legislation makes it possible to address violations and to have a constructive dialog about
them. In this way, legislation fosters self regulation.