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EU Privacy Directive — Coming To the US?
An anonymous reader writes "An article over at ComputerWorld implies that the EU Privacy Directive, or something like it, will soon be signed into law here in the USA. The author seems to think this is a good thing, but I'm not so sure. From the article: 'We've finally come to realize that self-regulation by industry hasn't worked. The states have stepped in, creating the same situation of conflicting regulation that led to the creation of the EU privacy directive. The only question now is if the law that comes out of Congress will be a small step strictly focused on breaches, such as S.239, or whether we take the bigger step of forming a permanent committee under the FTC to monitor privacy as outlined by S.1178. Either way, the U.S. is finally moving away from the fractured environment of the past and toward a comprehensive privacy strategy.' Is it time for a national privacy law or 'Privacy Czar', or are we better off letting things be?"
I believe Czar is a Native American word meaning destined for failure.
I think in general privacy laws and government regulation of privacy is a good thing. The problem with self-regulation of privacy is that personal information is a lucrative commodity. It is hard to get companies to do what's right when most people don't even realize how much information they are giving up or what their rights are. I think well crafted legislation can provide a good framework for companies to better their privacy policies as well as provide redress for consumers who are adversely affected by bad policies. Good laws also provide a way for privacy advocacy groups to benchmark companies by providing a baseline as well as providing standards to hold companies to.
The key here will be that the laws need to be broad enough to deal with the rapidly changing business methods as well as provide room for companies to try different methods of achieving the results. At some point you can push companies far enough that they will then try to advertise on how great their privacy is versus some other company, so it's good to set the bar and allow companies to rise above it as well as just meeting it.
And pigs can fly. Not a snowball's chance in hell that this could happen! Restricting business? How dare they! :)
I believe Czar is a Native American word meaning destined for failure.
Y'know, based on my knowledge of history, I'd have to guess it means the same thing in Russian.
!#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
May the Maths Be with you!