Understanding The Global Legislation in Data Privacy Protection
The 21st century ushered in a Digital Age of global interconnectivity. Today, digital solutions providers compete with each other to deliver the best services using the most up-to-date technological practices.
At the heart of this industry lies data and information, without which innovation would be impossible. However, cyber threats are growing daily, as is the penchant for many organizations to sell users’ data to third parties without prior notification. This is why global legislation policies regarding data privacy are more important than ever.
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The Modern Threats To Data Privacy
Every time that you use the internet, your device browser and third-party digital service providers log your personal details. This information is often stored and sold to software or advertising companies.
However, this data can sometimes fall into wrong hands – malicious elements who use various cybercrime techniques like ransomware and phishing to directly target unsuspecting individuals.
Today, there’s increasingly less trust in digital services, with too many individuals suffering a hack at one point or another. To put this into context, 63% of internet users believe that many companies aren’t transparent enough about how they use their personal data.
With occurrences of data compromise and breaches at an all-time high, data privacy protection has come to the fore, with increasingly improving legislation to back it up. Let’s take a look at three of these global data privacy laws:
1. GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation
The General Data Protection Regulation is a 2018 European Union legislation. Under this law, software organizations are required to adhere to strict regulations in personal data collection, with an emphasis on transparency and accountability.
This legislation’s jurisdiction is the European Economic Area and applies to all user information, including IP address, health status, sexual orientation, browser cookies, ethnicity, and genetic data.
2. CPRA – California Privacy Rights Act
The California Privacy Rights Act is an upgrade on the former California Consumer Privacy Act. It gives California residents the right to know the kind of personal data that businesses collect about them and potentially object to the sale of this data to a third party for any purpose.
The CPRA has a rather extensive list of what it terms sensitive personal information, which includes passport number, driver’s license, genetic data, social security number, geolocation coordinates, and religious beliefs. This law also imposes sanctions on non-compliant companies within California.
3. APPI –Act On The Protection Of Personal Information
Not to be left behind in any sphere of human development, Japan has updated its Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI) to reflect the realities of modern threats to customer data privacy.
Amendments to this law expanded the scope of personal data rights, making it mandatory for companies to publicly notify their customers of data breaches. The rules are strictly enforced, with companies falling afoul liable to fines of up to ¥100 million.
Conclusion
Software developers study customer behavior to determine the best ways to provide better services, and a lot of information is generated along the way. However, not all of this information is used correctly. Indeed, time has shown that malicious elements seek users’ personal data to harm unsuspecting victims online.
For the security-conscious internet user, there’s the utmost need to take precautions when online and find ways to browse the web anonymously to reduce the risk of hacks and cyber breaches. In addition to having a clear understanding of data privacy policies, it is important to take several preventive measures such as installing a VPN software, customizing cookies, and removing your personal data from Google – all of which strengthen your protection against potential data privacy violations.
