This book is a machine-generated literature overview of the legal and ethical debates over privacy and data protection measures in the last three decades, showcasing the expectations vis-à-vis realities of their presence and application in different sectors. The  book identifies the role and application of consent in different situations. Over time, consent in its various forms and types, informed, explicit and otherwise, ensured data subjects have a measured understanding of the purpose of data processing. The idea of consent with time has been challenging to implement with the rapid advancement of research in different areas. It remains the most critical fulcrum, yet there are instances when the implementation continues to challenge. 

Owing to the nature of this sub-discipline, it remains a work in progress yet portrays a comprehensive range of issues. The entire narrative is being explored through two such machine-generated overview volumes and this is the firstof the two. These volumes have consciously tried to remain both jurisdictional and technology neutral while considering a range of data protection and privacy issues. Towards that end, this book has chapters that capture overarching issues about data protection and privacy; conceptualizes data protection from different perspectives and its existing debates with other rights and developments in a democratic society; provides a snapshot of developments happening in various jurisdictions and how data protection framework engages with other laws. It also broaches the critical issue of consent and how consent as a requirement has evolved and integrated with health research and other allied areas. The subsequent volume, titled ‘Operationalizing Expectations and Mapping Challenges of Information Privacy and Data Protection Measures in the Last Three Decades’, would focus on different sectors and how these sectors have been tackling different expectations concerning data protection and privacy. It will also showcase how technology plays a catalyst in implementing data protection requirements. The book highlights the future research areas in the context of data protection and privacy. The volumes are an invaluable resource for not only researchers, but also policy makers, practitioners, corporate sector, across disciplines, and anyone looking to get an idea about the evolution privacy, data protection issues and the application of consent over the last three decades since 1990.