Changing Views on Privacy

A pronounced cultural shift in attitudes regarding privacy is making demands on both lawmakers and companies. For companies, one immediate effect is that boilerplate consent forms will no longer be sufficient. In the legislative arena, there is no U.S. version of the European General Data Protection Act – although something like it has been proposed – but all 50 states now have a breach notification law. Some states, notably California, Colorado and Vermont have gone farther that, with Vermont last year passing the country’s first law regulating data brokers. The bottom line, writes Epiq’s Samantha Green, is that people want “more control, more accountability from companies, more oversight, and more understanding of how their personal information is being used.”