The purpose of this paper is to examine privacy rights and the relationship between those rights and business and government interests in data collected from individuals.
This paper approaches legal issues from the perspective of the consumer or citizen.
While conducting research for this paper, it was found that the issues facing the citizenry on privacy protection have been addressed extensively in the not too distant past. The distinguishing characteristic is the speed with which data can be collected and disseminated and the infinitely more vast amount of personal data being collected not only by the government and businesses with whom consumers conduct transactions, but also by independent data brokers.
Privacy rights are ephemeral and difficult to measure. Businesses, therefore, appear to have difficulty determining the value of protecting consumers' privacy. Additionally, governments from which citizens derive many social services accumulate substantial personal information given in exchange for those services. Businesses and governments are increasingly negligent in protecting the data collected on individuals, which has been revealed by a series of reported data breaches, disclosures, thefts, and surveillance activities. This paper addresses the inherent value in protecting the privacy interests of individuals and proposes that more robust privacy laws, derived from established tort law, be developed and used by concerned persons.
