Personal data protection and what it means if the US can present more than a few surprises to people living in the United States who mistakenly believe that the adherence to a right to privacy in the country somehow transfers over to personal data that is collected or used online. In fact, there is a large amount of personal data that can be accessed by just about anyone, which is a disconcerting fact.

At present, data privacy is neither assured nor very well legislated or regulated in the US. There are, in fact, a great many people or organizations that can require or use or obtain a credit report when a person goes to apply for a job or purchase an automobile or the like. Also, the US has no single controlling authority when it comes to regulating data collection or usage.

When it comes to the use, storage or acquisition of personal data, the weaknesses in the system can greatly affect how secure it is. This should serve to give pause when one realizes that anybody who takes the time to enter in data that has been collected on someone is considered to be the owner of that data even if they never took the time to obtain permission to to gather it.

And even though there are laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA, it might also serve to concern people once they find out that such laws are more about how to go about efficiently moving information through networks rather than sufficiently protecting it from any theft or usage that has not been authorized by the people that the information is about.

And though a right to privacy — as enumerated by the Supreme Court in a landmark decision some years ago — exists within the Constitution and Bill of Rights of the United States, it is somewhat disconcerting to realize that almost no state, with the exception of California, officially recognizes an individual right to privacy.

When it comes to items that can be utilized to protect the privacy of personal data that is going to end up in information systems, there are a number of effective tools that can be utilized. Collectively, they are known as “privacy enhancing technologies, ” or PET. They generally consist of computer tools, mechanisms or applications that can be applied to safeguard online privacy.

A few examples of such enhancing technologies are mechanisms that can generate random IP addresses and disposable e-mail addresses along with what are called anonymizers. These tools help wash a person’s identity through many different channels so that the end result is no reliable identity can be established while a person is online.

The importance of personal data protection will become ever more apparent as ever increasing numbers of people begin to go online and conduct much of their business or interactions in cyberspace. It is more vital than ever that strong personal protective and privacy enhancing technologies be utilized and that laws and regulations be strengthened in order to prevent the loss of personal data.

Learn more about personal data protection Stop by Life Link Safe to see how The Safe will help you keep your life secure.

Tags: Identity Theft