News & Views

February 27, 2010 from The New York Times – “On the Internet, things get old fast. One prime candidate for the digital dustbin, it seems, is the current approach to protecting privacy on the Internet…”

180 View (Written by Graeme Booth) – “The attached article from the New York Times suggests that the rampant proliferation of data harvesting has all but made conventional approaches to privacy ineffectual. The author contends that privacy practices under-pinned by the use of disclosure statements is insufficient and that only governance defined by a combination of “rules and tools” will suffice. However, it is less than certain that increased regulation (which is what the author means by rules) is the most effective approach. Reasonable constraints on employee/individual behavior at the company level are a measured response to corporate sensitivities and external threats. It would seem, then, that a refocus on privacy and security efforts at the company or entity level would provide more immediate assurance to companies, employees, and other stakeholders. Big Brother may go to new lengths to increase his scrutiny but prudent companies should be asking themselves if the security and privacy “rules and tools” at their organizations are enough.