Internet Privacy Law: a Comparison Between the United States and the European Union

Ever feel like you are being watched? How about having the feeling like some one is following you home from school? Well that is what it will be like if users do not have the privacy on the Internet they deserve. EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center), a advocacy group that has been fighting the Clinton Administration for tougher online consumer protection laws, and other privacy protection agencies have formed to protect the rights and privileges of the Internet user. With the U.S. Government, EPIC has had to step in and help small companies and Internet users with their own privacy problems, hackers getting into their systems and ruining the networks, and crackers stealing and decrypting private

Company "privacy statements" and "End User License Agreements"(EULAs) also change the expectation of privacy in ways that may not be clear without extended reading [12]. In the case of a merger between DoubleClick and Abacus Direct, in which DoubleClick was acquiring Abacus Direct, what was considered a legal use of data for each company individually constituted a breach of privacy if combined [13]. As the expectation of privacy is based on public perception and understanding, continuing technological advancement and the precedents set by court rulings on cases involving privacy will alter these expectations in the

The right to privacy is viewed as a fundamental right all over the world. However, there are many interpretations of what privacy is, and this interpretations are in some way related to historical events that shaped the meaning of privacy differently for every country. Countries of the European Union consider the right to privacy a sacred right, therefore, they have established laws to protect the respect for private and family life and the right to personal data protection. Although United States has some sector laws to protect privacy, the constitution does not mention privacy as fundamental right, nonetheless, the notion of privacy can be extracted from the first 10 amendments of the constitution. Consequently, regulation of the right to privacy changes drastically between Europe and the United States. Countries in Europe have regulatory agencies whose only purpose is protect the privacy of its citizens. In contrast, the

Today, society is affected by the many advances in technology. These advances affect almost every person in the world. One of the prevalent advances in technology was the invention and mass use of the Internet. Today more than ever, people around the world use the Internet to support their personal and business tasks on a daily basis. The Internet is a portal into vast amounts of information concerning almost every aspect of life including education, business, politics, entertainment, social networking, and world security. (idebate.com) Although the Internet has become a key resource in developing the world, the mass use of Internet has highlighted a major problem, privacy and the protection of individual, corporate, and even government

In a 1973, a report by the US Secretary’s Advisor Committee on Automated Personal Data Systems was when the idea of Fair Information Principles was brought up. Due to the growing number of automated systems that were collecting massive amounts of data on individual’s information brought up a lot of concern for individuals and their privacy with companies. The Privacy Protection Study Commission helped heavily to development of the FIPs (Fair Information Principles). The Fair Information Principles are a reaction to the manner in which various online entities

As shown above, internet privacy and security is an expanding crisis in the United States. While this issue is prominent, stating the problem is pointless without suggesting solutions.

There is a concern about many users privacy worldwide. Technology is constantly upgrading and internet is being used daily worldwide. Laws are constantly changing and there are many concerns about this. In this essay, I will be talking about why

“Policymakers, on both the national and organizational levels, recognize the importance of regulating privacy in online environments and its potential repercussions for online behavior”(Dmitry 149). Control over public information that is provided to us via the internet would be in violation of the fundamental constitutional foundations of American democracy, freedom of speech, which to many internet users would be considered as the beginning of a totalitarian government motivated by financial interests. “In the cognate-based approach, the notion of control over, and limited access to, one’s personal information emerges as the dominant method of conceptualizing privacy”(Dmitry 151). While the concepts of regulating internet privacy may be perpetuated by mainstream media sources and by lobbyists, the general consensus online would agree that self-regulation is more appropriate than government regulation. Much of the self-regulation has come from government-sponsored ideas that would protect users by education rather than by control.

Privacy is valued as a most important sphere of personal life by all human beings. They value some control over information of their life and who knows what about them. No one wants their personal information to be accessed by anyone at any time. But nowadays due to the advancements in information technology people’s privacy is threatened. Talking about the concept of privacy, there is always broad distinction between American and European society. In the context of system of privacy, American versus European is just like liberty versus dignity. American enjoys right to freedom whereas European prefers right to respect and personal dignity. They prefer rights to ones image, name and reputation rather than freedom.

Every society values privacy in some respect but the expressions of privacy differ significantly across cultures [5]. A recent survey of over 1000 Internet users from 30 countries demonstrates this; in particular, the non-U.S. respondents were statistically more concerned about organizations using consumer data for customization and personalization purposes [6]. These findings are apparent when comparing and contrasting privacy laws from differing cultures. The cultural values of a nation influence the development and maintenance of societal institutions such as legislative bodies [7]. Although there may be other factors to consider, a country’s cultural values are closely associated with the privacy concerns that are exhibited by its people and are associated also with its regulatory approach [2]. The qualitative analysis we perform in this paper provides additional support for the proposition that different cultural experiences and histories impact a country’s legal system, especially the legal protection provided for individual privacy.

Over the past decade the world has gotten much smaller due to the electronic communication the Internet has fostered. While this promotes business and international relations, problems arise regarding the protection of individuals’ personal information. Many countries around the world have developed privacy policies and laws protect an individual's information in the realm of electronic communication. Universal enforcement gets complicated because the Internet is not restricted to one country; it’s worldwide. As a result, concerns arise regarding the compatibility of various countries' privacy policies. This paper will discuss the current legislation in place for various major

Prior to the Consumer’s Privacy Bill, consumer data protection in the United States was governed by unproductive mixes of laws that were applicable to prudent economic sectors that provide protection for a small division of consumer personal data in lieu of establishing a precedence of protections through one single law (CDT, n.d.). These practices alone are inadequate for technological standards of the most recent times, where Americans rely on the internet to conduct very personal business. Section five of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC), which provides opposition to companies participating in unfair and illegal trading practice even provides a limited protection without the Consumer Privacy Bill providing stable security to consumers. However, with the establishment of the Consumer Privacy Bill of Right that single standard is established that extends protection to all data while providing grounds for regulations and laws reducing or even eliminating potential cyber attacks with enhanced

The words, “Arguing that you don’t care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say” were said by Edward Snowden who is a computer professional in America. Similarly, the essays “Tracking Is an Assault on Liberty,” “Web Users Get as Much as They Give,” and “Facebook Is Using You” from Nicholas Carr, Jim Harper, and Lori Andrews respectively points out that the internet privacy is good and bad. However, the articles by Carr and Andrews are based on the negative side of the internet privacy, which means that the internet privacy is not good. On the other hand, Harper’s article is based on the positive side of the internet privacy, which means that the internet privacy is good and scary, but people need to be careful of their own information and browsing histories, and websites. Jim Harper’s essay is more relevant and reasonable than the Nicholas Carr and Lori Andrews’s essays. However, Harper seems more persuasive to readers because he believes that the internet is good if people use it in a right way, whereas Carr and Andrews believe that the internet is not good at all.

The concern about privacy on the Internet is increasingly becoming an issue of international dispute. ?Citizens are becoming concerned that the most intimate details of their daily lives are being monitored, searched and recorded.? (www.britannica.com) 81% of Net users are concerned about threats to their privacy while online. The greatest threat to privacy comes from the construction of e-commerce alone, and not from state agents. E-commerce is structured on the copy and trade of intimate personal information and therefore, a threat to privacy on the Internet.

The regime of European data protection law oblige all the Member States of the EU to give a harmonised and equivalent protection to fundamental rights such as privacy, freedom of natural persons and freedom of the media. However, ever since the inception of any legislation the body of law of data protection and freedom of expression has always stood in great tension. This conflict started gather more and more attention ever since the “right to be forgotten” decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the case of Google Spain in 2014. Additionally, this area of the law is also in wake of a significant change with the new General Data Protection Regulation which is proposed to replace the currently in force Directive on 25 May 2018. Furthermore, the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice continues to expand in a sense that it started to scrutinise less high profile “domestic cases”.