Effective ways to balance the data-driven economy and privacy rights

-- By RyotaSaito - 12 Mar 2022

Introduction

Today is the era of the "data-driven economy". Amazon shows you the products you are most likely to buy next based on a lot of data collected from users and from your purchase history. Google, likewise, uses user data and your behavioral history (GPS location, word-of-mouth postings, etc.) to suggest restaurants that match your current mood and clothes that interest you. Today, this kind of data-driven business has become the mainstream of global business in the 21st century across all industries. One issue that arises for data-driven businesses is the violation of the privacy rights of the individuals whose data is being collected. There has been much discussion around the world about balancing the data-driven economy with personal privacy (e.g., the introduction of the GDPR in the EU), but no consensus has been reached, nor has anyone been able to reach a satisfactory outcome. Unfortunately, I have not been able to reach a satisfactory conclusion on this issue, but here are my current thoughts on the matter.

It is not practical to stop data collection

In conclusion, I believe that it is difficult to take action to stop the collection of data altogether or to collect data with truly individual consent.

Emphasizing the protection of individual privacy, one possible response would be to make it impossible for companies to collect data on individuals. However, as mentioned above, data-driven business is the mainstream of the 21st century, and it is not realistic for countries that wish to maintain international competitiveness to establish such regulations in their own countries.

The next approach would be to allow data collection while giving a certain level of consideration to privacy. One way to achieve this "certain consideration" would be to obtain the consent of the individual whose data is to be collected. Even today, this is being practiced by using services such as Google's after agreeing to the privacy policy. However, I believe that "obtaining data after obtaining consent from the individual" is not realistic (and even if it has such an appearance, it is disguised). This is because the vast majority of people do not read privacy policies, and even if they did, the content would be difficult for many to understand. In addition, service providers take actions such as "if users do not agree to provide information, they will not be allowed to use the service or their use of some services will be restricted," effectively forcing them to consent. This method of relying on an individual's consent to waive privacy is problematic because it is extremely likely that it is not actually based on the individual's true consent. In addition, the conditions under which a service provider provides services (e.g., compensation for services, etc.) are essentially a matter for the company to decide, and it would be extremely difficult for a company to take the actions that it currently takes (i.e., not allowing users to use services or restricting the use of some services unless the users agree to provide their information). It would be difficult to prohibit the use of the "no" method (i.e., the use of the "no" method).

Ways to restrict the provision of services using collected data

In considering the compatibility of the data-driven economy and privacy, I believe there are two situations: the first is the violation of privacy rights in data collection situations. As noted above, I believe that it is difficult to find an effective way to achieve a balanced balance in this regard. In this sense, I believe that the measures currently taken, specifically collecting data in a manner that individuals cannot be identified and obtaining consent through privacy policies (but not truly consenting), are realistic measures.

The second situation in the compatibility of data-driven economy and privacy is in the context of data-intensive businesses. That is, a service provider takes some action against a user based on the collected data (e.g., displaying products that you might buy). In conclusion, I believe that a waiver of the right to privacy by the user is possible in this situation. The benefit the user receives is to receive customized suggestions based on his/her action history. （From the perspective of privacy rights, the problem is that the user is unconsciously manipulated by the service provider (i.e., made to go to a suggested restaurant or purchase a product based on the data collected). In this situation, if the user would rather not have data-based services provided to him or her in order to protect his or her right to privacy (right to self-determination) instead of giving up such a convenient feature, such as protecting his or her right to privacy (right to self-determination) by giving up such a benefit We believe that a decision can be made.

4 Conclusion

I believe at this point in time that the above method of balancing the data-driven economy and privacy may be a viable method that countries can adopt while striking a balance between the two.

Let us imagine an argument:

1. The world economy is based on burning fossil fuels.
2. It is therefore impossible to stop burning fossil fuels: no country can afford to injure its competitiveness by ceasing to burn fossil fuels; extraction companies are tightly integrated into geopolitics and they will prevent us from obliterating their value.
3. Therefore we should not urgently imagine a possible alternative future in which we don't burn fossil fuels, no matter what that does to the physical environment and how many billions die.

What good is this argument?

Changing how we provide services in the Net to minimize collection of behavioral information from individuals and to implement Information accountability is far easier than ceasing fossil fuel burning. Protecting freedom of thought and the integrity of human individuality is less urgent, let us concede, then protecting humanity from a planet on fire. But both independently require discarding axiomatic deference to current political economy. Nothing like the existing economic order will exist at the end of your lifetime. The draft could be improved by some form of contact with this reality.

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