How moving away from the old “notice and choice” model can enhance data privacy for consumers.
The beauty of the internet is that it offers infinite choices to consumers. From social media platforms to streaming services to online shopping to banking, the internet has enabled consumers to buy goods and utilize services from countless vendors and companies all over the world. Many of these sites use personal information to enhance the online experience, to tailor their communications to consumers, or to provide products or services at a low or no cost.
As consumers steadily increase their use of online products and services, some have also expressed a desire for better ways to ensure that information about them is used responsibly and protected. Right now, data privacy largely follows a “notice and choice model” that can present consumers with long privacy policies with an overwhelming amount of information about a company’s data practices. Many website visitors have grown accustomed to clicking “I Accept” to access content without reading the privacy policy for each website.
Rather than asking consumers to bear the burden for investigating whether a site may put their personal information at risk, it’s time to consider a new paradigm for protecting data privacy. Privacy for America is proposing a framework for a federal privacy bill that would move away from the old “notice and choice” model and instead establish a standard of what data practices should be prohibited and permitted. The bill would prohibit outright certain data practices that put personal data at risk of abuse or misuse, rather than continuing to allow these harmful practices if a consumer consents. The framework would also provide options for consumers on how they want their data to be used, including allowing them to decide whether they want companies to create and use detailed portfolios to infer or predict their behavior or interests. Individuals would have the option to request access to, or request deletion of, the personal information a company maintains about them, and to learn about the types of third parties with whom personal information has been shared. And importantly, the framework would still allow for the responsible use of data that enables consumers to continue to use the internet for the goods and services they rely on each day.
It’s time to shift the burden for online privacy protections from consumers by establishing stronger rules that govern how personal data can be used. This new approach will benefit consumers while preserving the responsible use of data to deliver the online products and services they have come to enjoy and expect. Learn more: https://www.privacyforamerica.com/overview/principles-for-privacy-legislation/