Data Protection

With data breach incidents on the rise, federal courts are grappling with the issue of standing in class action lawsuits arising from data breaches.

As a proponent of baseline federal privacy legislation, I am encouraged that proposals that would have been poison pills not long ago, such as individual rights to see, correct and delete data as well as new authority for the Federal Trade Commission, are drawing wide support now. But some crucial and difficult issues remain wide open.

“I Love Lucy” provides the central metaphor for a Brookings paper released today on what to do to protect privacy. It comes from the episode where Lucy goes to work wrapping candies on an assembly line. The line keeps speeding up with the candies coming closer together, and, as they fall farther behind, Lucy and her sidekick Ethel scramble harder to keep up. “I think we’re fighting a losing game,” Lucy says.

Not so long ago, it was hard to find anyone who thought regulating Silicon Valley was even possible, let alone a good idea. Deference to the technology industry was such that companies were sometimes even applauded for baldly violating existing regulations. Think of the early days of Uber, whose “innovative” business model relied on running over transportation regulations and dealing with fines and lawsuits later.