Digital media firms have long argued against privacy
regulation asserting that regulators don’t understand the ways they work, that
digital firms have strong incentives to protect the privacy of users, and that
the firms do so through self-regulation.
Unfortunately, for years we have witnessed major digital players
continually apologizing for their lapses in protecting the privacy of their
customers, often violating their own policies and promises, and for not ensuring
that others with whom they do business protect the privacy of the data they
access and use. There has been a constant failure to put their customers’
privacy interests first and digital companies have dismissed criticism and call
for regulation as misguided or perilous.
The regulations that have appeared, such as the European Union's General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR), have improved transparency and the abilities to
control how some of their personal information is used, but is doing little to
control the massive amounts of data compiled and interpreted by digital firms
and digital advertisers based on search behavior, websites visited, purchases
made, social media posts, articles and posts shared, video and music down
streamed, apps used, and other digital activities.
Transparency in digital media remains highly limited, uses
of personal data often unknown by or misunderstood by consumers, and consumer
controls of use remain relatively ineffective.
It is not enough for the central platforms of communication to argue
that consumers can choose to use them or not. They have become critical infrastructure
by design and business practices that facilitate communication down the street
and around the world. Basic life functions ranging including labor, commerce, information,
communication, entertainment, and governance activities are all dependent upon
their structure and operations. Citizens should not be forced to choose between
using these essential services and losing their privacy and autonomy.
It has become time
for policymakers to start developing strong, enforceable privacy legislation
that puts the interests of citizens above those of digital firms. Although
governments economic incentives to support firms and obligations to ensure they
aren’t destroyed with overregulation, the current situation is so unbalanced
against individuals that only significant public regulation can create a
reasonable balance between consumers and commercial interests.
Developments in the past quarter century of the digital
world have revealed the abject failure of digital firms to self-regulation privacy.
It is time to talk that privilege away from them.
1 comment:
It has become time for policymakers to start developing strong, enforceable privacy legislation that puts the interests of citizens above those of digital firms. I absolutely agree that globalization really affected the way people perceive brands in general because nowadays you can find any information about any brand from different countries so companies have to work really hard to win a costumer's trust.
Content Marketing Company
Post a Comment