While data privacy is becoming more regulated every year, it is still a matter that, today, largely comes down to trust, said Kayne McGladrey, a cybersecurity strategist at Ascent Solutions. As the backlash in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal shows, what people expect from the companies they do business with is just as important as the laws that govern the use of their data.
“Today’s data privacy is primarily concerned with the processing of personal data based on laws, regulations, and social norms,” McGladrey said. “Often this is represented by a consumer ignoring an incomprehensible privacy policy (that would take nearly 20 minutes to read) before clicking a button to acknowledge their consent to that policy. Their acceptance of the policy allows the organization to handle their data in documented ways, such as using it to show them targeted advertising based on their inferred interests. However, if that organization sold those personal data to another organization to do something unexpected (like using it to suppress protected free speech) without the consumer’s consent, that would be a breach of privacy, either by regulatory control or by a violation of social norms.”