Once again, another influential business publication is arguing for the need for a clear U.S. national data privacy policy for the benefit of consumers and businesses. At the same time, China is leading the way on privacy legislation with the enactment of one of the strongest data privacy laws in the world this week.
“A National Data Privacy Regulation Is Good For Business,” Forbes-November 5th, 2021
Most people feel that enacting national data privacy regulation would be beneficial to both U.S consumers and businesses. In fact, compliance concerning privacy issues without clear guidelines from legislation is costing businesses enormous amounts of money. Likewise, consumers feel unprotected and susceptible to privacy intrusions and identity theft. The time is now to pass a national law.
“Ignore China’s New Data Privacy Law at Your Peril,” Wired- November 5th, 2021
China’s first data privacy law went into effect this week giving consumers unheard of amounts of protection for their personal data. The Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) allows authorities to restrict how companies can use consumers’ data and issue massive fines to companies who mis-use data. China’s new data privacy law should be a model for data privacy laws in other countries.
Plain and simple, people are getting wary of Facebook controlling such vast amounts of their personal data and have started taking steps to protect themselves. At the same time, Facebook, perhaps hearing their user’s growing concerns, has taken an important step in deleting facial recognition data.
“Ask Help Desk: How can I protect my privacy when I’ve lived my whole life online?” The Washington Post- November 5th, 2021
With all of the privacy breaches with Facebook and other big technology companies, consumers are turning to other apps for privacy protection solutions. For example, instead of using Facebook to find local meetups, people are using other platforms such as meetup.com or the Nudge to post about upcoming events in the area. Other ways to protect yourself online include adjusting your privacy setting on social apps. Clearly, people are becoming more cognizant of the need to proactively protect their privacy rights.
“Facebook to delete users’ facial-recognition data after privacy complaints,” NPR- November 2nd, 2021
This week, Facebook announced that it will shut down its facial recognition technology and delete over 1 billion faceprints. Although Facebook did not admit any wrongdoing, clearly their actions resulted from growing concerns over the storage of these types of intimate details about a person. Hopefully Facebook will continue to make more changes in favor of consumers versus profits.