Personal Data Protection And What It Means In The US
Personal data protection and what it means if the US can present more than a few surprises to people living in the United States who mistakenly believe that the adherence to a right to privacy in the country somehow transfers over to personal data that is collected or used online. In fact, there is a large amount of personal data that can be accessed by just about anyone, which is a disconcerting fact.
Currently, the privacy of data is neither extremely well legislated nor consistently regulated in the country. For example, many people or groups or organizations can obtain a credit report when a person applies for a job or seeks to purchase an automobile or even rent an apartment. Generally speaking, there is no single all-encompassing regulation or set of laws overseeing this activity.
It is a fact that the storage, use and acquisition of personal data are greatly affected by this condition. It should serve to cause a great deal of concern that anyone troubling themselves enough to enter in personal data on anyone will be considered to be the owners of that online data when it comes to storing and using it even if no one gave permission for that data to be stored or collected.
It is also the case that the existing laws -- such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act -- actually are structured more along the lines of taking steps to ensure the smooth flow of personal data that was collected rather than the institution of vigorous protective mechanisms to make sure the data that was collected is sufficiently protected from theft or unauthorized usage.
And though a right to privacy -- as enumerated by the Supreme Court in a landmark decision some years ago -- exists within the Constitution and Bill of Rights of the United States, it is somewhat disconcerting to realize that almost no state, with the exception of California, officially recognizes an individual right to privacy.
When it comes to protecting the privacy of data that has been collected and stored in information systems there are a set of effective tools that are known in the collective sense as "privacy enhancing technologies, " or PET. These consist of certain computer tools, mechanisms and applications which can allow an online user to protect the privacy of information that might allow a person to be identified.
Examples of such privacy enhancing technologies include communication anonymizers that work to hide actual online identity and replace it with a non-traceable identity. This includes the use of one-time or disposable e-mail addresses, random IP addresses, pseudonyms etc. That can be applied to e-mail networks, chat rooms and instant messaging systems, to name just a few examples.
Personal data protection and what it means to many of us will become an ever increasing point of concern as more and more people begin to conduct activities on the Internet and in cyberspace in general. Today, it is more important than ever that strong protection and privacy enhancement tools are used and that existing laws be strengthen such that they work to prevent theft or loss of personal data.
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