Privacy of Personal Information on the Internet

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Privacy of Personal Information on the Internet

. Introduction

Due to the rise of the internet, information privacy has become a first level social and political issue gaining a global position. Globalization of the privacy issue has been driven by worldwide trade, communication, travel, and marketing. As computer networks make it easier to find, store, and process information, it is becoming harder for individuals to keep their data private.

The regulatory approach for protecting information varies by nation. The differences especially standout between the European Union (EU) and US. The EU sought to protect itself and cross border trading in the 90's with a Data Protection Directive. This directive states that transfers of personal data take place only in non-EU countries that provide an adequate data protection regime. Although the US and EU share the same vision - enhancing privacy protection for their citizens, the US strategy takes a different privacy approach. The US relies on a sectoral and industry specific approach with a mixture of legislation and regulation. In the US sectoral laws are focused on telecommunications, health care, and financial services. This paper will look at the key differences between US and EU Policies and some of the pros and cons of each. However, first off, it is important to address "What is privacy and why should we protect it?"

II. What is Privacy & Why Should We Protect It?

Privacy is hard to define and many different versions of a definition reside out there. Definitions range from as simple as "the fundamental of all liberties" and "the right to be left alone" to the "claim of an individual to determine what information about himself or herself should be kno...

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...ar2002, Vol. 16 Issue 1, p23, 12p

[3] On-line privacy in Europe--new regulation for cookies. By: King, Ian. Information & Communications Technology Law, Oct2003, Vol. 12 Issue 3, p225, 12p

[4] Privacy as a Trade Issue: Guidelines for U.S. Trade Negotiators. Solveig Singleton. Economic Freedom Project Report #02-02

[5] Privacy is good business. By: Sturdevant, Cameron. eWeek, 10/13/2003, Vol. 20 Issue 41, p67

[6] RFC 2804 "IETF Policy on Wiretapping" ftp://ftp.rfc-editor.org/in-notes/rfc2804.txt

[7] Social and Political Dimensions of Privacy. By: Westin, Alan F.b Journal of Social Issues, Jul2003, Vol. 59 Issue 2, p431, 23p

[8] Using Organizational Safeguards to Make Justifiable Privacy Decisions when Processing Personal Data. By: Olivier, Martin. Proceedings SAICSIT 2003, p275–284

Flags from http://www.eurunion.org/legislat/agd2000/agd2000.htm

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