1. A method for processing data in accordance with a privacy policy within a data processing system, the method comprising: receiving, at a proxy, a first message from a first system to a second system; in response to a determination at the proxy that the first message is associated with an operation on personally identifiable information, determining at the proxy whether the operation on the personally identifiable information is compliant with a privacy policy and with user preference information with respect to the privacy policy for a user who is associated the personally identifiable information; and in response to a determination that the operation on the personally identifiable information is compliant with a privacy policy and with user preference information with respect to the privacy policy, sending the first message from the proxy to the second system.