Data Privacy
Today’s technological advances has seen the growth in new trends and is being used by all persons including young kids. Today, technology is utilized in all aspects of life that includes checking up on family members, paying bills or tracking an individual’s vehicle. Currently, the use of technology is considered advanced and popular despite technology being in existence for decades. However, technology also has various shortcomings that tag along with the use of technology. The increasing of social media has developed a number of concerns in regards to privacy that has challenged the rights to privacy for those that utilize social media. What is considered as a private life is in the use of technology is no longer considered as private any longer. Technology-based firms in the U.S have developed and stored enormous pools of information in regards to major aspects of private life that include race, sexuality and age. Therefore, tracking and securing personalized data ought to be regulated which entails the U.S administration drafting laws that are aimed protecting user’s information.
The use of technology has significantly altered the methods that persons interact but then again posed serious risks in regards to privacy. Most companies engage in data mining on various platforms and in turn offer the data collected to advertising firms that track the performance of a particular user. Significantly, exchange of personalized data is considered as a source of income for these firms. The firms are involved in providing personalized data to firms that are dependent on the information to micro-target potential clientele for the products they offer. This has resulted in confidentiality concerns such as profiling, cyberstalking, disclosure of an individual’s personal data and location to third party users.
Lack of laws governing the use of technology and prohibit the use of personalized data results in an individual’s life becoming public. Various social media platforms offer users’ data to advertising and tracking firms. For example, Apple Pay, offers a data privacy guideline that indicates they do not provide data on any user to third party firms. Nevertheless, the privacy guideline is highly violated. This is as a result of most users clicking on ads either on the application or the webpage and therefore relays user’s address to an advertising firm. The firm is therefore able to access essential data on a user’s profile that can easily violate a user’s rights.
Policy makers have tried to keep pace with the increased use of technology through the enactment of laws but still proves to be a daunting task to keep up with the advancement in technology. Increased use of technology can be valuable to both the users and the organisation as a result of the improved prospects of association. This has however resulted in the increased rights violation on most platforms. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and the Communication Decency Act are some of the federal legislations that address the issue of privacy. There lacks a national comprehensive social media law that currently exists despite the increased attempts to address privacy protection on various platforms. Several states have undertaken numerous measures such as the European Union data protection regulation that assists on improving confidentiality in web-based space. The policy states that the stability concerning right to privacy and security of personalized information, on the one hand, and the liberty of info of web users, on the other, is expected to contrast considerably all over globe (Fromholz 461). The implementation of such laws on privacy, the security of personalized data is guaranteed.
There is need for the State to tackle the aspects of invasion of privacy due the growing number of users in America. The privacy concerns were delegated to firms that tried to commit themselves to protecting personalized information but did not do enough to protect the users’ confidentiality. Some of the activities that require to be regulated include the collection and analysis of confidential data without users’ authorization, utilizing personal data contrary to the expected use as well as sharing users’ information without knowledge. Various companies violate confidentiality rights by disclosing users’ info without the awareness of the user. Users demanded to be engaged on how data is collected and used. Hence, these regulations address how various platforms ought to operate (Nissenbaum 32). For instance, the legislation can indicate the measures a company ought to undertake in the event of a breach of security linked to confidential information.
Most companies experience difficulties in meeting set obligations in regards to safeguarding users’ data. Failure by most firms in safeguarding data ought to trigger the implementation of policies concerning privacy to regulate the use of confidential data. The significance of legislations that govern users’ data is that they will enable firms to have effective and reasonable processing of personal data in a consistent manner. Laws that govern the use of technology will focus on the data protection guidelines that are expressed by firms just as the models and practices of the firms. This will play a significant role in the prevention of misuse of personalized data. Ideally, the COPPA law has been fundamental in overseeing the divulgence of individual information that belongs to young kids. This implies most sites that lay emphasis on kids are not capable of gathering individual information about a kid without having first to compose a notification of the revelation practices and getting the parents’ approval (Custers 435). In this way, the U.S government requires to have developed laws that will forbid entities, for instance requesting individual data and trailing users’ activities via web-based platforms. This will progressively decrease the risks attributed to privacy of data and securing data on web based platforms.
The U.S administration needs to have a custom-based law approach that will accustom to the adjustments in innovation guideline in the protection of privacy. The law will offer a procedure oriented and prescriptive way to deal with how entities need to deal with the information security. Ideally, technology firms have been responsible for the abuse of information and breach of information yet their obligation is constrained. This means that they can enable access to individual information to their sites without any worry such as actions from the third party (Kerber 856). In this manner, having laws that require the execution of security protection efforts will diminish the sharing of data that prompts privacy risks dangers and the misuse of protection rights.
Conclusion
Technology has posed various threats to users in terms of privacy that include social profiling, divulging data to third parties and cyberstalking. There has been the increased violations in privacy as a result of increased of use of technology in the United States. The federal administration ought to respond to these concerns through several policies that govern the privacy of data while making use of technology. The logic behind the collective act approach on protection of data is to incorporate all forms of technology in safeguarding the confidentiality of all users. Hence, the U.S government ought to draft policies that shield users’ information.
Works Cited
Fromholz, Julia M. “The European Union data privacy directive.” Berk. Tech. LJ 15 (2000): 461.
Nissenbaum, Helen. “A contextual approach to privacy online.” Daedalus 140.4 (2011): 32-48.
Custers, Bart, et al. “Informed consent in social media use-the gap between user expectations and EU personal data protection law.” SCRIPTed 10 (2013): 435.
Kerber, Wolfgang. “Digital markets, data, and privacy: competition law, consumer law and data protection.” Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice 11.11 (2016): 856-866.