Identity and Privacy Law

Enrique

In my opinion, modern civilization obviously has a serious privacy problem. No one can even publicly use their real name online without the very likely outcome of abuse or identity destruction, and supervision must be extremely invasive as a countermeasure, which leads authorities into similar abusive practices. It seems that with a few strategically directed lawsuits or particularly well-constructed legal documents, some simple precedents could be set that protect citizens without requiring massive legislative reform, such as an overhaul of tort law. Is it even possible to insure ordinary joes from being blown up by the system or its savviest manipulators? What is the philosophy that upholds such a volatile situation, and can it be changed?

tim wood

Take a try at a good working definition of privacy.

My own view is that your business is your business until and unless you make your business my business. Then it's not your business anymore but it is my business.

Pantagruel

It seems that with a few strategically directed lawsuits or particularly well-constructed legal documents, some simple precedents could be set that protect citizens without requiring massive legislative reform, — Enrique

I'm a privacy officer in the medical field and privacy law is far from simple, I can assure you. Lawsuits there are aplenty.

Outlander

Is it even possible to insure ordinary joes from being blown up by the system — Enrique

If they seem to be doing something that would warrant an accountable? "system" from "blowing them up" .. I'd question your understanding of the word "average".

Enrique

I'm a privacy officer in the medical field and privacy law is far from simple, I can assure you. Lawsuits there are aplenty. — Pantagruel

Who's doing the suing, is it class actions for online security breaches, sole individuals against information distribution companies, corporations for intellectual property concerns? What kind of improvements are being made to privacy law by way of legal proceedings? What medical circumstances warrant lawsuits?

Pantagruel

Who's doing the suing, is it class actions for online security breaches, sole individuals against information distribution companies, corporations for intellectual property concerns? What kind of improvements are being made to privacy law by way of legal proceedings? What medical circumstances warrant lawsuits? — Enrique

There is an ever-increasing escalation of the importance of protecting privacy, which is reflected in evolving regulations surrounding the collection, use, and sharing of private information. I don't know of any details surrounding a lot of the consumer cases you mentioned, but in the medical field specifically privacy breaches and investigations are frequent and the decisions by the IPC on a case by case basis get regularly piled on to the mass of existing legislative and regulatory guidelines.

I guess it is like legislation by bureaucracy.

Enrique

↪Pantagruel

What kind of privacy breaches happen in the medical field?

Pantagruel

What kind of privacy breaches happen in the medical field? — Enrique

No limit. Results get sent to the wrong people. Some people conspire to steal personal health information to sell it. Everything in between. People snoop on their friends, or on famous people. Etc. Etc. Etc.

edit: there is malfeasance, but much of what I do is process related. As regulations become more strict, outmoded processes tend to produce accidental privacy breaches. I work at identifying and remedying these a lot.

Enrique

Does anyone even value privacy anymore? It sure doesn't seem like it sometimes. Maybe you must be a multimillionaire to even have a chance at protecting your identity.

My own view is that your business is your business until and unless you make your business my business. Then it's not your business anymore but it is my business. — tim wood

What conditions do you think justify legal help to protect your business from a well-moneyed entity that disruptively or destructively believes your business is their business, and

↪Pantagruel

, how far do the institutional mechanisms which could enable an effective defense reach in real life?

tim wood

What conditions do you think justify legal help to protect your business from a well-moneyed entity that disruptively or destructively believes your business is their business, — Enrique

If you're asking about commercial enterprise, there's recourse to civil and criminal law. Or just selling out at an acceptable price. If it's the mafia or the like, maybe any way to get away is good. At the same time, competition in business is part of business.

What I had in mind is the fellow who tells you to MYOB, when in fact he has made his business your business, and that you're doing exactly what he's telling you to do.

Echarmion

Is it even possible to insure ordinary joes from being blown up by the system or its savviest manipulators? What is the philosophy that upholds such a volatile situation, and can it be changed? — Enrique

I think the future of privacy is very much in question. Right now, for all then increasing legislation about privacy, people are voting privacy out with their feet. Or, more accurately, with their usage habits.

Big data is just too convenient. It tells you where you need to go, what to expect on the way, where else you might want to go, what you might enjoy etc. Etc. And that's just the start. It's entirely plausible that a medical bracelet could diagnose common illnesses just by comparing your vital functions to a database.

I am sceptical whether that process can be stopped. Perhaps we need a new notion of privacy? Something akin to security through obscurity, where you hide what you need to inside the mass of data

Identity and Privacy Law

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