Internet able and/or virtual companies from social media to ISPs operate and conduct business in a multinational to global realm. Facebook, Twitter, and Google are among the major global internet powered companies. Their scale of operations puts them in comfortable positions where they are able to serve the market at super convenient costs without the need to worry about losses. This ability attracts a lot of customers to sign up (clicking on the terms and conditions with vague understanding of their implications) to access a lot of the free services, tools and applications they offer.
As a result theses companies have become information banks as the higher the frequency of input and content shared by users make them very susceptible to hacking, data mining, and the companies themselves use the users information intentionally or unintentionally for their gain. Privacy and security issues are already a major concern for users globally. Governments, companies, groups and individuals have over the years been subjected to exposure, allegations, and legal actions for violating these rights to individuals’ freedom of personal privacy and protection over their digital information.
Due to the traversing nature of the internet extending the boundaries of countries with different legal systems and requirements there is no definite international laws governing users rights and freedom to their information when it comes to digital applications therefore the onus is on individual (or groups) of countries to create and promote laws for internet and digital privacy and security.
In New Zealand there is currently no definitive law but policymakers are working on addressing these issues. The European Union already has its legal and policy directive set on digital privacy. It is envisaged that many will follow suit to address security and privacy issues, from managing them to legal sanctioning through the enforcement of policy directives.
chrisgandi 