Essay Example on Electronic Privacy: Protecting Personal Data From Companies & Governments

Electronic privacy refers to the privacy and security of personal data through electronic systems and the internet. It is a general term that refers to a variety of factors, techniques, and technologies that are in place to protect the private and sensitive data, communications and preferences. Various companies face severe regulations that limit their use of consumer's personal data, with governments being largely exempted from such limitations. According to O'Connor (2018), half of Americans believe that their personal information is less secure in the current times compared to how it was five years ago. 2017 was marked by a disastrous breach of data at Equifax, Deep Root accidentally leaked personal details of nearly two hundred million U.S. voters, Yahoo's billions of emails were compromised and Uber attempted to conceal a data breach that affected fifty-seven million accounts (O'Connor, 2018). These are examples of cases that attribute to electronic data privacy concerns. The myriad data breaches and inadequate data-protection practices have led to piecemeal legislative responses not only at the federal level but also with competing state laws and with various enforcement regimes to enhance electronic privacy.

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Various western countries have adopted comprehensive legal protections from their personal data to enhance their electronic privacy. The United States is the home to some of the largest and most advanced technology companies in the world. However, the country continues to struggle with sector-specific laws and regulations without adequately protecting electronic data of the U.S. citizens and companies with billions of consumer data bytes being spewed via smartphones, video cameras, and social media platforms on a daily basis (Steinmetz, 2006). The United States has opted for various data protection strategies to enhance electronic privacy. Instead of the country implementing one all-encompassing regulation, it implements sector-specific data protection regulations and laws that work together to enhance state-level legislation and safeguard American citizen's electronic data. Some of the systems put in place include the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) (Steinmetz, 2006).

However, for Europe, privacy is different with some rulings seeming like a solution for the Americans who view their privacy as a vice that is slowly fading away (Gustke, 2019). In the case of Europe, personal information cannot be collected without the permission of the consumer, and have the right to review the data with proper accuracies. The companies that process the data have to register their activities with the government which ensures government oversight and control over electronic privacy. According to Gustke (2019), employers cannot read their worker's private e-mails without their consent. Any form of personal information cannot be shared between companies or across borders without the data subject's permission. The above are among the rights presented by The European Union Directive on Data Protection of 1995.

The companies in Europe experience severe regulations that limit their application of consumer's personal information with the governments being highly exempted from such limitations. With the rare use of credit reports in Europe, wiretapping has been the new norm. Moreover, countries such as the Netherlands use wiretaps that are 130 times more common than the United States. The reason for the difference in privacy laws between Europe and the U.S. is the basic divergence in citizen/consumer attitude, i.e., while the Europeans reserve the distrust for corporations, Americans get more concerned about the government invading their privacy. The private organizations and companies in the U.S. are not under the control of the government. The U.S. federal agencies have limited power to limit the behaviors of private companies on electronic privacy. Moreover, agencies charged with protecting U.S. citizens from private intrusions rarely act against the firms. On the other hand, each European nation has its data protection authorities that ensure government control and oversight over corporate behavior.

Electronic privacy is also a course of concern for the European Union. According to Gustke (2019), each EU country has its own data privacy and ability to enforce and control the privacy laws. However, their enforcement varies from one country to another. From the region, Germany and Spain are viewed to display the toughest laws on data privacy by slapping the violators with large fines once they violate the consumer privacy right. The Asian market is also coming on board too fast, with Singapore passing a data privacy law that protects all its personal data ten years after the person's demise. South Korea also has very strong laws on data privacy that even cover a person's voice or image. Australia also implements a bare-bones data privacy laws. However, the data isn't as rigorously protected as that of the other countries in the EU region. An analysis of how the other countries implementing data privacy systems indicate how they are accessible to their specific government controls.

A comparison of their implementations and procedures indicates how the U.S. is lagging behind when it comes to electronic privacy. In comparison to the EU region that entails Spain and Germany and the Asian region that entails Singapore and South Korea, the U.S. data privacy laws are viewed as a patchwork. The electronic privacy procedures are beyond the government's control, as opposed to the other governments (Movius & Krup, 2009). An example is the American retailers who are in most cases self-policing and are limited to a company's basic privacy policy. However, what is accessible to government control is consumer rights in the event that they get infringed. This is done through bodies such as The US Federal Trade Commission that protects the American consumers and only steps in when a company fails to comply with its self-developed privacy promise.

The invention of advanced electronic devices and the internet changed the definition of privacy, making it a necessity to enact new laws regarding electronic communications and security (Movius & Krup, 2009). The US government controls electronic privacy through legislation and privacy acts. These are laws implemented by the country to ensure electronic, internet and data security. The U.S. has implemented numerous laws that cover the internet, data security and electronic privacy among its states. These include the 1974 Privacy Act that ensures control over the collection, use, maintenance and dissemination of personal information by any executive branch of the U.S. government. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986 allows the U.S. government to access or obtain any digital information and communications via social media messages, email and public cloud databases among others (Chabinsky & Pittmann, 2019). The cyber intelligence sharing and protection act (CISPA) that concerns how to share information on any potential cyber threats with the federal government.

To conclude, the desire to safeguard personal information is not a new phenomenon and digital technology has disrupted privacy in new ways and made it easier and cheaper to search, collect, store, aggregate, and even market information. The US is among the major countries around the globe that is experiencing a hard time dealing with electronic privacy. Other countries in Europe such as Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore and South Korea in the Asian region have made terrific advancements towards electronic privacy with their solutions being under the control of the government. However, the US has made little advancements with the decisions arrived at going beyond the controls of the government. Those left under the government's control include data and privacy legislation and laws. An increase in the online transactions conducted via networks also contributes to the rise of new electronic privacy problems that emerge in a networked environment.

Therefore, while the US legislation looks into data security and the role played by private records, the context of privacy is often absent and appears in separate segmented privacy laws. While the European Union has been proactively regulating the use of personal data, the United States has refrained from establishing regulations that aim at protecting personal data. While the right to data privacy is a heavily regulated concept in Europe, the phenomena are not highly legislated in the United States since the history of privacy regulations in the US depends on an industry of reactive legislation and self-regulation. It follows a system of governance where the markets set the industry agenda and the governments would only intervene when there is failure in the private sector.

References

Chabinsky, S., and Pittman, F. (2019). Data Protection 2019 | Laws and Regulations | USA | ICLG. International Comparative Legal Guides International Business Reports. Retrieved 11 October 2019, from https://iclg.com/practice-areas/data-protection-laws-and-regulations/usa

Gustke, C. (2019). Which countries are better at protecting privacy?. Bbc.com. Retrieved 11 October 2019, from https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20130625-your-private-data-is-showing

Movius, L. and Krup, N. (2009). US and EU Policy: Comparison of regulatory approaches. International Journal of Communication. Retrieved from https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/405/305.

O'Connor, N. (2018). Reforming the U.S. Approach to Data Protection and Privacy. (2019). Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved from https://www.cfr.org/report/reforming-us-approach-data-protection

Steinmetz, G. (2006). 'La difference' is stark in EU, U.S. privacy laws. msnbc.com. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/15221111/ns/technology_and_science-privacy_lost/t/la-difference-stark-eu-us-privacy-laws/#.XaBC71Uza00