ARTICLE SUMMARY
Summary:
This paper asks if legislators should pass online privacy legislation.
POLICY RELEVANCE
Policy Relevance:
The authors caution that a broad approach to regulating how online businesses use consumer information could hurt technology and growth, with few gains.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Key Takeaways:
- The authors favor evaluating the need for privacy regulation online on a case by case basis, considering the costs to privacy and benefits to consumers.
- The European Union’s Data Protection Directive Network regulates consumer information across the board, and slows the growth of new technology and business methods like outsourcing.
- Policymakers should
- Consider legislative proposals’ economic effects for dynamic technology.
- Target laws to specific concerns.
- Treat online and offline businesses the same.
- Recognize that businesses have reasons to provide suitable online privacy notices without regulation.
- Be very cautious about requiring opt-in, the rule that consumers must explicitly agree to a site’s information use or sharing.
- Give consumers a right to access their information, which would have few benefits and add many costs.
- Limit lawsuits and other enforcement mechanisms.
- Consider legislative proposals’ economic effects for dynamic technology.
QUOTE
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About Anne Layne-Farrar
Anne Layne-Farrar, Director, LECG, studies the interaction between intellectual property and competition policy. She focuses particularly on high-tech and network markets such as pharmaceuticals, communications, software, and airlines.
Dr. Layne-Farrar’s web site is at http://www.lecg.com/experts/profile.aspx?shortid=51. She can be reach at alayne@lecg.com.
Dr. Layne-Farrar’s web site is at http://www.lecg.com/experts/profile.aspx?shortid=51. She can be reach at alayne@lecg.com.
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