/opinion

Opinion | Can Europe Lead on Privacy? - The New York Times
▻https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/01/opinion/europe-privacy-protections.html

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The American government has done little to help us in this regard. The Federal Trade Commission merely requires internet companies to have a privacy policy available for consumers to see. A company can change that policy whenever it wants as long as it says it is doing so. As a result, internet companies have been taking our personal property — our private information — while hiding this fact behind lengthy and coercive legalese and cumbersome “opt out” processes.

The European rules, for instance, require companies to provide a plain-language description of their information-gathering practices, including how the data is used, as well as have users explicitly “opt in” to having their information collected. The rules also give consumers the right to see what information about them is being held, and the ability to have that information erased.

Why don’t we have similar protections in the United States? We almost did. In 2016, the Federal Communications Commission imposed similar requirements on the companies that provide internet service, forcing them to offer an explicit “opt in” for having personal data collected, and to protect the information that was collected.

This didn’t last. Internet service providers like Comcast and AT&T and companies that use their connections, like Facebook and Google, lobbied members of Congress. Congress passed a law this year, signed by President Trump, that not only repealed the protections but also prohibited the F.C.C. from ever again imposing such safeguards. The same coalition of corporate interests succeeded in discouraging California from passing a state privacy law similar to the 2016 F.C.C. requirements.

The New World must learn from the Old World. The internet economy has made our personal data a corporate commodity. The United States government must return control of that information to its owners.

Tom Wheeler, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 2013 to 2017, is a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.

#Vie_privée #RGPD #FCC

Opinion | Facebook Is Not the Problem. Lax Privacy Rules Are. - The New York Times
▻https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/01/opinion/facebook-lax-privacy-rules.html

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/04/02/opinion/02mon1/02mon1-facebookJumbo.jpg

As recently as 2010, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and chief executive of Facebook, believed that privacy was no longer a “social norm.” But over the past few weeks — and not a moment too soon — he and his colleagues have learned that privacy still matters to individuals and society.

what we have learned about the data collection practices of social media firms, advertisers, political campaigns, online publishers and other groups suggests that company-specific changes like Facebook’s will be insufficient. What is needed is for Congress to adopt rigorous and comprehensive privacy laws.

The technology and advertising industries have long resisted such rules, and neither this Congress nor the Trump administration has shown any interest in privacy. But someday new politicians will be in charge, and now is as good a time as any to begin a serious examination of how American privacy regulations can be strengthened.

Today, it is standard procedure for many companies to vacuum up as much data as they can by getting users to agree to long, impenetrable terms of service. Companies might not even know how they will use the information being collected but collect it anyway, in case they later develop a specific use for it. Recently, some Facebook users discovered that the company’s Android app had been logging metadata from every incoming and outgoing phone call and text message, in some cases for years. The company said that users had consented to sharing this information and that doing so “helps you find and stay connected with the people you care about, and provides you with a better experience across Facebook.” That statement is positively Orwellian. It’s hard to believe that many people would have given the company access to so much personal data if they actually understood what they were agreeing to.

But it is increasingly clear that businesses will figure out how to live with and make money under tougher privacy rules. Some companies are also planning to apply some or all of the data protection requirements to all of their customers, not just Europeans. And other countries have or are considering adopting similar rules. Throughout history, meatpackers, credit card companies, automakers and other businesses resisted regulations, arguing they would be ruined by them. Yet, regulations have actually benefited many industries by boosting demand for products that consumers know meet certain standards.

#Vie_privée #Législation #Régulation #RGPD