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Strides and Missteps Toward Consumer Anonymity
-- By KatiaBogomolova - 16 Mar 2021 | |
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> | Introduction/Overview - Anonymity or Privacy? | | | "We didn't build the net with anonymity built in. That was a mistake." -Eben Moglen at re:publica, Berlin, May 2, 2012. | |
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< | In the current system, digital anonymity sounds like an oxymoron. Accessing the Web from nearly anywhere in the United States pre-supposes -- despite constitutional guarantees of privacy and protection against searches -- near total exposure. From technologies overtly aimed at removing individual privacy to more covert or removed data mining operations (through social networking sites and the like), a consumer's identity, once digitized, attaches to them immutably. In our ever more digitized society, it becomes increasingly difficult for consumers to say no to surveillance. However, existing and expanding public pressure may force corporate America to make room for privacy, albeit not full anonymity online. | >
> | In the current system, digital anonymity sounds like an oxymoron. Accessing the Web from nearly anywhere in the United States pre-supposes -- despite constitutional guarantees of privacy and protection against searches -- near total exposure. From technologies overtly aimed at removing individual privacy to more covert or removed data mining operations (through social networking sites and the like), a consumer's identity, once digitized, attaches to them immutably. In our ever more digitized society, it becomes increasingly difficult for consumers to say no to surveillance. However, existing and expanding public pressure may force corporate America to make room for privacy, albeit not full anonymity online. This paper explores the present systems that seek to enhance online consumer protections online, as well as where we can go from here. | | | | |
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< | The divulging consumer: Every time someone makes an online transaction, they entrench identifying information into a digital ether now accessible to prying third parties, often including the government. Credit and bank cards track our purchases, tying them to our identities in an inescapable, web-supported ledger. While cash remains a truly anonymous option, the developed world grows less receptive to it by the year, as contact-free, Internet-powered payment tools become unavoidable. Moreover, the unsuspecting consumer can hardly exist in developed society without a bank account or credit score. In this regard, he is severely limited in his ability to escape unwanted data-collection. | >
> | Existing laws in the modern digital landscape | | | | |
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< | On the contrary…existing protections? Modern legislation, including most predominantly the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), has been enacted to enhance consumer privacy protections. The CCPA gives consumers greater control over the information that businesses may collect about them, and how they use this information further. Among others, the Act gives the consumer the right to know what information the business is collecting, using and sharing, to delete collected personal information (with exceptions), to opt-out of the sale of this information to a third party, and to non-discrimination for exercising a right under this Act. This act marks a positive stride in the direction of greater privacy; an important one since the 2006 creation of The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC). The council, an independent project by American Express, Discover, JCB International, MasterCard? and Visa Inc. sets a standard for card encryption and security. | >
> | When the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) was enacted in 2018, it generated a mixed response., has been enacted to enhance consumer privacy protections. The CCPA gives consumers greater control over the information that businesses may collect about them, and how they use this information further. Among others, the Act gives the consumer the right to know what information the business is collecting, using and sharing, to delete collected personal information (with exceptions), to opt-out of the sale of this information to a third party, and to non-discrimination for exercising a right under this Act. This act marks a positive stride in the direction of greater privacy; an important one since the 2006 creation of The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC). The council, an independent project by American Express, Discover, JCB International, MasterCard? and Visa Inc. sets a standard for card encryption and security. | | | Protection in the cloud: Several SCOTUS decisions limited the possibility of digital surveillance. Riley v. California perhaps made a dent in the unrestricted access to "private" information on the Web. In an arrest, the Court held, information found to be in the "cloud," i.e. accessible via phone but not inherently on it, cannot be considered "on the arrestee's person," To this end, the government is thus forbidden by the Fourth Amendment to engage in such a warrantless search (unless the government's interests are so compelling that a search would be reasonable). Also, the Court found in United States v. Jones and Carpenter v. United States that the use of GPS or cell phone signal triangulation to track a suspect without a warrant is unconstitutional. It follows, then, that using the Internet to keep tabs on a suspect's geographic location at all times may constitute a violation. Perhaps, as more specific cases arise, the Court may set the parameters of constitutional violation more clearly, as they pertain to the Internet.
Corporations, often motivated by intensive public opinion, are looking for ways to enhance privacy — or at the least, "privacy theatre" (the staging of privacy in some kind of space. For example, the cybersecurity department at Lowe's recently hired a specialized, chief privacy officer to work with the company's general counsel. With her oversight, the cybersecurity team's goal is to lock down corporate users with access to customer data, reducing this access significantly. Such action was compelled by the public and the state government of California, alike. The existence of the CCPA accelerated this process. Although it isn't perfect, new legislation and regulation can strengthen constitutional privacy protections enough to bring the concept of digital anonymity closer on the horizon. | |
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