Rapid Growth of Technology and Data Protection

Data Protection Laws
Data Protection Laws
Introduction
The rapid growth of technology has led to an explosion of information. Technology has led to an increase in the collection and distribution of personal information through methods such as the Internet surveys. As a result, information privacy has emerged as a significant issue worldwide. For example, with more than 4 billion mobile users, there is extensive access to personal information. Governments and companies can access sensitive and private consumer data. Careless and unauthorized use of data can bring harm to private individuals but companies are careful in protecting personal data belonging to their customers. This situation has brought the need to protect consumers from violation of their privacy. Data protection or information privacy laws have been created in many countries globally following a breach of privacy in confidential data. This paper seeks to examine the legal issue of data protection by looking at the scope and history of data protection laws., highlight the legal cases that have changed data protection laws globally, and consider the future of data protection legislation.
Overview of Data protection laws
Data protection laws are regulations that prevent the misuse of sensitive personal data. Companies or their subsidiaries usually collect, secure, share, store, or send consumer data. Privacy laws help guarantee the security of data. Many countries worldwide have a comprehensive data protection law. For instance, in 2018, the EU launched the General Data Protection Regulation. However, the US does not have such a broad law. It uses a sectoral approach, which means it doesn't have a unified federal law for data protection (HG Experts). These regulations help prevent organizations from the unauthorized use of data.
Importance of Data Protection Laws
They help protect the fundamental rights and freedom of citizens. These laws ensure that citizens can maintain the confidentiality of their personal information. Exposing such information may bring untold harm to an individual or family. The regulations also help citizens from fraudulent activities. For example, privacy laws help prevent illegal access to an individual's financial records. It also helps prevent access to sensitive or embarrassing health information. For businesses and organizations, data protection helps them build trust with their customers. A person will likely share private information with an organization with a positive reputation (Bygrave, 2014. Thus, any organization must continuously review its data protection policy to maintain its public image.
Principles of data protection
Data protection laws are based on several principles meant to give citizens the power to control the use of their information. Wright and Raab (2014) highlight some of the privacy principles.
Openness and transparency: Stipulate that individuals must know how their data will be used. There should be clear and accessible information for individuals regarding the use of their data.
Data minimization: There should be a limit to information disclosure. It should be minimized to only the key stakeholders within the company. 
Information security: An organization must take proper care of data. This includes establishing tight security measures to prevent any data breach. This helps prevent any unauthorized access, manipulation, or loss of data.
Consent and choice: Any individual have an option to refuse or to accept the use of their information. Therefore, any organization must first seek a person's consent to begin any information processing.
Collection limitation: This principle ensures that organizations collect the only necessary information. It prevents the collection of non-essential details that can be used for general purposes.
History of Data Protection Laws
The issue of data protection became more significant during the 1960s in the US. The rapid growth of technology from the 1960s saw governments and organizations collect a lot of data. This data, which was stored in databases, allowed organizations to use it in ways unknown to the public. As a result, privacy risks became a public concern. There was a need for a comprehensive data protection law (Privacy International, 2018). Advanced IT systems made information privacy became a core part of governance.
The right to privacy is a fundamental human right in many constitutions across the world. It's supported in international law under Article 17 of the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights (ICCPR). In line with international law, every government is tasked with protecting the privacy of its citizens. The UN Human Rights Committee has been a leading international body in advocating for data protection laws. The organization in 1988, identified the significance of data protection as part of the right to privacy in international law. At that time, there was still inadequate legal and institutional framework and infrastructure to enhance data privacy. Many governments began formulating legislation governing data protection (Privacy International, 2018). The following are some of the first laws to be passed.
German Federal Data Protection Act of 1970 or Bundesdatenschutzgesetz (BDSG), is the earliest data protection legislation in the world. The law was passed in the German federal state of Hesse and became in full force during the late 1970s. Its goal was to protect the exposure of private data, which was found in Information technologies. BDSG ensured that public and non-public entities protected the personal information of their clients. The law has since undergone several amendments, particularly in 2009 and 2010. Those amendments were caused by an increase in privacy violation complaints (von dem Bussche & Stamm, 2013). The principles contained in the BDSG helped build consumer trust in organizations.
Another significant data protection law was the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) of 1970 in the United States. Its goal was to protect information privacy in entities that deal with consumer credit reporting. It helped promote the responsible use of consumer information. Documents such as credit reports were subject to manipulation by these agencies. This law preserved the accuracy of credit reports. The landmark law has been instrumental in preventing unauthorized sharing of consumer credit reports (Sickler, 2015). Therefore, this federal law helped empower consumer rights in the US.
The US was the leader in promoting fair data protection practices during the 1980s. Its actions influenced many countries to also implement strict legislation on data protection. The countries in the EU have extensively passed these laws. Countries like the UK, Sweden, France, and Germany have passed national data protection laws. For example, the UK's Data Protection Act passed in 1998, which sought to protect personal data stored in computer gadgets. By 2018, more than a hundred countries across the globe have enacted data protection legislation. In the 21st cen...