The main aim for applying the General Data protection regulation was to create awareness on cyber security to all citizens in the European Union. The directive gives distinctive and original provisions, such as rights to be forgotten, and guarantees data privacy to all users. This paper outlines a brief review of the general data protection regulation. It also gives reasons why the rules should be implemented in the United States.
The regulation dispenses various essential standards, including the primary objective of fostering great awareness of data privacy. Data protection awareness is improving in bilateral trade negotiations. The directive increases awareness through goal setting and identifying methods and tools to achieve the goals. Some tools and techniques include privacy policies, notifications, data protection officers, standard contractual clauses, and model contracts (Nwankwo, 2021). For instance, notifications alert data controllers to provide information on data processing methods to achieve transparency. Transparency goals enable individuals to act with interest and awareness of data protection guidelines.
Additionally, the GDPR guarantees privacy rights to all users, especially for organizations handling extensive scale data. The regulation recommends the appointment of a data protection officer who ensures compliance with GDPR regarding personal data processes, storage, and systems. The officer is also conducted in case of breaches of data. The DPO creates awareness of the GDPR to all organizational stakeholders through training sessions (Jordan, 2021). Due to increased data breaches, the GDPR allows privacy impact assessments to mitigate individual risks. The PIAs are included in extensive business projects to notify regulators and all involved individuals in case of a data breach.
Furthermore, the directive is technologically neutral as it does not specify application areas like the financial sector. Personal data definition is deliberately unclear to apply multiple technological concepts. Interpretation relies heavily on various considerations, including results, purpose, and content (Gallagher, 2020). Data controllers, therefore, assign the area of application based on biometric data, characteristics, or behavioral data. The directive is flexible, and therefore it is not limited to particular technological and societal contexts.
Further, the regulation provides the personal data standard that harmonizes individual data. Personal data protected and coordinated relates to an individual’s mental, genetic, cultural, business, and social data. The provision regulates an individual’s real-world or online behavior for all European Union internet users (Abrantes, &Venkataraman, 2021). The regulation has an exterritorial significance as it applies to all EU internet users despite their geographical location. For businesses, personal data legislates the burden of data protection to the owners. For instance, in case of breach of customer data privacy, the housing providers are held responsible. The regulation helps businesses with proper record-keeping processes and procedures within the supply chain.
Finally, the regulations can be used as a reference model for good practices. The directive has raised influential and valuable debates regarding data protection. The guidelines have also received credit for formulating legal rules that yielded maximum results to EU member states. Generally, the directive has been accepted and respected internationally. The principles have been emulated and applied indirectly as standards and practices for good data protection.
However, the directive has some weaknesses and critiques, including misinterpretation of the unclear link between personal data concepts and actual risk. The GDPR can only be applied for personal data, resulting in counter-intuitive or unpredictable results (Vander Maelen, 2020). Also, measures aimed at ensuring data processing transparency are inconsistent and ineffective. For instance, GDPR does not state a clear purpose of notifications. Finally, providing data to third countries is bureaucratic as it consumes too much time and effort.
The United States require an equivalent of GDPR for data protection. The country has several national laws for various sectors, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). However, the US lacks a data protection policy to safeguard individual and companies’ data. The USA has some proposed regulations for data protection, including the consumer data protection act and the data care Act. Nonetheless, none of the proposals gained enough support to become a law. The country, therefore, needs to formulate a data protection law.
Technological advancements also accelerate the need for an equivalent GDPR in the United States. Industries and nations across the United States of America need a unified framework (Choi, 2020). The data privacy law will play a vital role in enforcing and ensuring data privacy. The law will also strengthen privacy protections and eliminate confusion and inefficiency among business stakeholders, including vendors, associates, customers, and suppliers.
Conclusively, the GDPR is generally good for data privacy and security. It provides general guidelines that can be applied across all economic sectors. The GDPR also harmonizes data protection guidelines, fosters public awareness on data privacy issues, and guarantees privacy rights for all personal data users. The principles in the GDPR can be emulated by different states, including the United States. The United States require an equivalent for GDPR as they lack a data protection act due to technological advancements.
References
Abrantes, B. F., & Venkataraman, A. (2021). Testing environmental change’s effects of EU’s general data protection regulation (GDPR) on the software industry. Medium. Web.
Choi, K. H. M. (2020). A Critical Juncture in Data Protection Standards: Comparing Data Protection Legislation in the United States and the European Union (Doctoral dissertation, 서울대학교 대학원).
Gallagher, H. (2020). The Deployment of Big Data Analytics Technologies in Law Firms in Ireland and the Potential Impact on the Future Delivery of Legal Services: Risks and Solutions. Medium. Web.
Jordan, S. (2021). Strengths and Weaknesses of Notice and Consent Requirements under the GDPR, the CCPA/CPRA, and the FCC Broadband Privacy Order. Medium. Web.
Nwankwo, I. S. (2021). Towards a transparent and systematic approach to conducting risk assessment under Article 35 of the GDPR (Doctoral dissertation, Hannover: Institutionelles Repositorium der Leibniz Universität Hannover).
Vander Maelen, C. (2020). Codes of (Mis) conduct? An Appraisal of Articles 40-41 GDPR in View of the 1995 Data Protection Directive and Its Shortcomings Medium. Web.