Privacy: The New Generations

Abstract:     
The current international legal framework for data protection and privacy is founded on instruments such as the 1980 OECD Guidelines and the European Union Data Protection Directive that date from the 1980s and 1990s.

At the time these instruments were drafted, technologies that have become pervasive today (such as the Internet, social networking, biometrics, and many others) were virtually unknown. Moreover, a new generation of users has grown up in the last few years that has come to integrate online technologies into the fabric of their daily lives.

Privacy legislation has not kept up with these developments and remains based on concepts developed in the mainframe era. Thus, we need a new generation of privacy governance to cope with the implications of the new generation of online technologies, and to protect the new generation of technology users.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 13

Keywords: Privacy, Data Protection, Data Protection Directive, OECD Privacy Guidelines, Technology, Social Networking Services, Facebook, Google, RFID, Smart Grid, Eealth, Genetics, Analytics, Behavioral Targeting, Cloud Computing

JEL Classification: K10, K23

Accepted Paper Series