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Privacy Laws

Privacy protections often govern activities such as information processing, data

protections, and how data may flow between systems.

Because governments worldwide are so diverse, there has never been any global

consensus on the major tenets of privacy—what it is, how it should be protected, and how

much it should be respected by law enforcement personnel. These laws vary from country

to country, and depending on where your organization operates, you may need to

determine how to comply with vastly different and often conflicting requirements. These

privacy laws are also fluid and are subject to rapid changes.

Examples of privacy laws for various areas of the world include privacy directives in the

European Union and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act

(PIPEDA) in Canada.

European Approach to Privacy Laws

The government and the law play a major role in how many European countries handle

privacy issues. In Europe, the government is expected to defend its citizens' right to

privacy. Historically, the EU has tried to regulate privacy and streamline the approach to

privacy.

In the workplace, European privacy laws and court rulings generally skew toward

protecting personal information. Members of the European Union (EU) look to the 1995

Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC) as a guide in establishing workplace

regulations. In 2001, the Article 29 Working Party (WP29), a group of EU data protection

authorities convened to issue more specific guidance. According to an article in

the Privacy & Security Law Report (2011):

The WP29 generally recommends that monitoring should be avoided unless there is a

specific and important business need. It suggests that before implementing monitoring

policies, employers should consider whether monitoring is necessary and proportionate,

Learning Topic

2/11/2021 Privacy Laws

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and whether the same results could be obtained through traditional methods of

supervision. In addition, the WP29 insists that monitoring must be transparent and that

the processing of personal data be fair. Therefore, prior notice informing employees about

monitoring is essential (Retzer & Lopatowska, 2011).

Privacy Laws in the United States

In the United States, privacy laws are generally promulgated at the state level. For

example, California includes privacy protections in its state constitution and statutes: SB

1386 - Personal Information Protection and CA Civil Code 1798.83 - Personal Information

Protection.

In Maryland, the 2007 Maryland Personal Information Protection Act (MPIPA) protects

the privacy and personal information of state residents with requirements to protect

personal information during the disposal of records, adopt reasonable security procedures

and practices to prevent unauthorized access to personal information, and to provide

individual notification when a business has experienced a breach of security that may

result in the release and misuse of personal information.

References

European Commission (2007, June 28). The SWIFT case and the American Terrorist

Finance Tracking Program [Press release]. Retrieved from

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/266

Retzer, K., & Lopatowska, J. (2011). Analysis: How to monitor workplace e-mail and

Internet use in Europe: The Polish perspective. Privacy & Security Law Report.

Retrieved from https://media2.mofo.com/documents/110718-privacy-and-

security-law-report.pdf

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