Security of personal data across national borders

Rapid technological advancements present many opportunities in the way people work, communicate and conduct business. That growth is especially prevalent in the World Wide Web. In the last five years, the Internet has expanded the market place to a global arena. More and more companies are conducting business online. Multinational corporations are becoming extremely dependent on the exchange of information across the Internet. As information flows across national borders, the concern for data security increases. Accordingly, personal data and business transactions collected by international companies are no longer safe once they enter the realm of the Internet. This paper addresses privacy concerns of e‐commerce customers, the security regulations imposed on multinational companies transferring data across international boundaries, and the risks of not complying with data protection regulations.