Law Commons^™

A Gradual Shift In U.S. Privacy Laws Towards A Comprehensive Regime , Kamaal R. Zaidi

ExpressO

This paper examines the current trends in a predominantly sectoral U.S. privacy regime that appears to be becoming more comprehensive in nature with respect to data privacy protection. This trend has been greatly attributed to the European Union's comprehensive position on data privacy protection. This paper investigates the growth in U.S. data privacy protection in relation to federal and state legislative history, federal administrative procedures, and private industry efforts. This shift from sectoral to comprehensive regimes is significant in the backdrop of U.S-EU trade relations.

The Impact Of Opt-In Privacy Rules On Retail Credit Markets: A Case Study Of Mbna, Fred H. Cate, Michael Staten

Articles by Maurer Faculty

U.S. privacy laws are increasingly moving from a presumption that consumers must object to ("opt out" of) uses of personal data they wish to prohibit to a requirement that they must explicitly consent ("opt in") to uses they wish to permit. Despite the growing reliance on opt-in rules, there has been little empirical research on their costs. This Article examines the impact of opt-in on MBNA Corporation, a diversified, multinational financial institution. The authors demonstrate that opt-in would raise account acquisition costs and lower profits, reduce the supply of credit and raise credit card prices, generate more offers to uninterested …

Indecent Exposures In An Electronic Regime, Natalie L. Regoli

Federal Communications Law Journal

As the topic of data privacy is vast and the subject of much scrutiny, this Comment focuses narrowly on commercial cyber-activities relating to the nonconsensual Internet acquisition of personally identifiable user data. Beginning with a brief examination of the technology that has exacerbated privacy law's inadequacies, it briefly discusses failed attempts to safeguard privacy rights through the market and federal agency management. It then addresses current U.S. privacy legislation and the 1995 European Privacy Directive. Finally, this Comment proposes the creation of a new legislative system to effectively combat the surreptitious collection, storage, use, and sale of personal data.

Protecting Privacy And Enabling Pharmaceutical Sales On The Internet: A Comparative Analysis Of The United States And Canada, Nicole A. Rothstein

Federal Communications Law Journal

The Internet raises enhanced and unique concerns regarding informational health privacy and Internet pharmacy sales. As technology advances and the Internet changes the way people obtain medical services and products, protecting consumers and their informational health data in online pharmaceutical transactions is paramount. This Comment charts and compares the existing legal frameworks in the United States and Canada relative to informational health privacy. Following this discussion, each legal framework comes into sharp focus with regard to Internet pharmacy sales. Ultimately, this Comment concludes that based on the highly sensitive nature of personal medical information, a baseline privacy standard should be …

Privacy, Ideology, And Technology: A Response To Jeffrey Rosen, Julie E. Cohen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This essay reviews Jeffrey Rosen’s The Unwanted Gaze: The Destruction of Privacy in America (2000).

Rosen offers a compelling (and often hair-raising) account of the pervasive dissolution of the boundary between public and private information. This dissolution is both legal and social; neither the law nor any other social institution seems to recognize many limits on the sorts of information that can be subjected to public scrutiny. The book also provides a rich, evocative characterization of the dignitary harms caused by privacy invasion. Rosen’s description of the sheer unfairness of being “judged out of context” rings instantly true. Privacy, Rosen …

Privacy Vs. Convenience: The Benefits And Drawbacks Of Tax System Modernization, E. Maria Grace

Federal Communications Law Journal

The Internal Revenue Service has launched the Tax System Modernization (TSM) program, a $23 billion plan to modernize its computer and information systems. TSM will be the largest computer upgrade ever undertaken by the federal government. Like any other computer network, TSM will inevitably be threatened by computer viruses, professional eavesdroppers, power outages, natural disasters, and human error. Given the sensitive nature of tax returns, the IRS has the difficult task of modernizing its data collection procedures and telecommunications facilities without risking the privacy of taxpayers and offending the security measures required by the Privacy Act of 1974, Computer Security …