Emerging data privacy regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the USA, have sparked global discussion around:
Who has our data and what exactly are they doing with it?
Data privacy regulations like GDPR & CCPA require corporations to disclose, at the request of users, what personally identifiable information (PII) they collect, why they collect it, and how it is ultimately used. Users may exercise their “right to be forgotten” and request that any PII stored by corporations is deleted.
Since its launch in May 2018, GDPR has generated 114 million euros ($126 million) in fines, including Google’s 50 million euro fine in 2019 for collecting user data without consent. This is significant progress, delivering much-needed transparency for users, and demanding accountability from corporations.
But let’s make one thing clear: GDPR and CCPA may improve the status quo, but they do not guarantee our privacy. In practice, these regulations are nothing more than operational frameworks that allow us to inquire, complain, and seek financial damages from companies.
Even exercising your “right to be forgotten” is a tedious process – today, the average American uses 50 apps and websites, which means they would need to issue 50 individual requests to each company in order to wipe their slate clean.
Pursuing one’s right to privacy through legal action is only suitable for those with excess time, finances, and patience – not the vast majority of us. Shouldn’t corporations proactively disclose how they use our data instead of us chasing them down one-by-one? Better yet, shouldn’t we fully own our data in the first place?
Future iterations of GDPR and CCPA may chip away at this problem. However, we cannot rely on the sluggish pace of regulation to claim our fundamental right to privacy. There is no time to waste – to reach our vision for a human-centered and private future, we must rely on technology.
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