Posts Tagged ‘Privacy’

Who should set the global privacy framework?

Sunday, February 1st, 2009

Microsoft, HP, eBay to weigh in on US privacy laws

This article leads with, “A group of U.S. companies, led by technology giants Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and eBay, is set to outline recommendations for new federal data-privacy legislation that could make life easier for consumers and lead to a standard federal breach-notification law.”

The key phrase here is, “…make life easier…”. I applaud the efforts of these organizations to work together to establish a common baseline. That being said the ‘amicable split’ with public interest groups like the CDT is worrisome. If privacy is a right to informational self control, then balancing it against convenience, as articulated in the market and established by a commercial consortium, may lead in the wrong direction.