A General Approach on Privacy and its Implications in the Digital Economy

Abstract

The information age set off a revolution for organizations and institutions without precedent. Big production of data is a major competitive advantage for companies. Therefore, there are great economic incentives to monetize such data. However, there is evidence that indicates clear vulnerability in terms of user privacy, thereby setting a new paradigm in the search for a balance between privacy and security. This article offers a brief history of privacy to this day, deepens the scope and importance of its standardization in the regulation and future of digital markets.

Keywords:

• privacy
• markets for personal data
• regulation

JEL Classification Codes:

• O1
• O4
• K2

Notes

1 We searched in Google Scholar the total research papers per year and in which the word “privacy” appears in the title.

2 For more information of the top twelve data breaches of 2019, see Maria Henriquez (2019). Available at www.securitymagazine.com/articles/91366-the-top-12-data-breaches-of-2019.

3 The first explicit opposition between public and private in Greek literature occurs in Homer’s The Odyssey, pages 8–9.

4 Statistics available at Internet World Stats (n.d.), www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm.

5 To find out more see Gandhi et al. (2018), https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/demystifying-data-monetization/.

6 For more information see Netflix (n.d.) at https://help.netflix.com/en/node/100639.

7 For more information see Council of Europe (n.d.). available at http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/standardsetting/dataprotection/Data protection day en.asp

8 For more information, see Google (2008), available at https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/celebrating-data-privacy.html.

9 For more, see Government of Israel (n.d.) at www.gov.il/en/departments/the_privacy_protection_authority/govil-landing-page. Accessed November 20, 2019.

10 For more, see Wikipedia (n.d.) at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Privacy_Day. Accessed November 20, 2019.

11 For more information see Confessore (2018) at www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-scandal-fallout.html.

12 Official Website available at www.privacyshield.gov/welcome. Accessed November 20, 2019.

13 More info in www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-releases-rules-protect-broadband-consumer-privacy. Accessed November 20, 2019.

14 More info at Californians for Consumer Privacy (n.d.), available at www.caprivacy.org/.

15 Details available at Arizona State Legislature (n.d.), available at www.azleg.gov/ars/18/00552.htm.

16 For full text see Dellinger (2018), available at https://gizmodo.com/vermont-passes-first-of-its-kind-law-to-regulate-data-b- 1826359383.

17 For more sources see Beatriz Redondo Tejedor (2019), available at https://es.mailjet.com/blog/news/noticiasproteccion-de-datos-eeuu/.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mariola Sánchez

Mariola Sánchez Romero is a postdoctoral research fellow at Miguel Hernández University of Elche (Spain). The author thanks Amparo Urbano for her comments and suggestions. The author also thanks FUNCAS. This article was a paper that is part of a thesis awarded with the Enrique Fuentes Quintana of FUNCAS Award - Social Sciences Category - Call 2019-2020.