Law and Technology of Data Privacy : A Case for International Harmonization

Data crosses national borders routinely. And any regulation on data privacy by an individual national authority could easily have ramifications beyond its jurisdictional boundary. This article lays out some of the relevant issues and provides an argument for international coordination and harmonization. With technological advances, various methods are employed and will continue to be employed to gather information on users. Also, as more user information becomes available without having to incur much cost, companies engage in highly sophisticated data analytics. In response to these developments, authorities in individual countries and regions have put forward reform proposals and discussions are under way. The current framework of addressing data privacy issues at a country level or at a regional level, however, has a risk of splintering the overall regulatory and enforcement regime at the global level. This article examines economic incentives of individual authorities when making policy decisions and shows that there is a systematic risk of over-regulation or under-regulation. The article then discusses possible options for international coordination and harmonization