Law Commons^™

Consumers: The (Still) Missing Piece In A Piecemeal Approach To Privacy, Clark Asay

Clark Asay

U.S. consumers have little actual control over how companies collect, use, and disclose their personal information. This paper identifies two specific instances of this lack of control under U.S. law related to third-party disclosures, what I call the Incognito and Onward Transfer Problems. It then identifies the types of privacy harms that result and examines the advantages and possible drawbacks of a model law aimed at addressing these specific problems. The model law is based on a system of consumer notice and choice, the predominant method used in the U.S. to provide consumers with control over their information. Up until …