Lawyer: Basic Consumer Protections Are Common, Though Privacy Issues Remain
Though much in the privacy space has yet to be “resolved,” some aspects have become more mainstream, especially concerning consumer online privacy, said Laura Riposo VanDruff, a privacy and data security lawyer at Kelley Drye, in an interview with Privacy Daily.
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Many companies are “really embracing” fundamental consumer privacy rights “as table stakes,” she said in an interview, giving as an example the "right to opt out" of selling and sharing of personal data. Though “different companies approach it differently, and there's guidance from the regulators where companies have fallen short,” the change in thinking is nearly ubiquitous, she said.
As a result, “consumers’ experience online today genuinely looks different than it did just a few years ago," thanks to laws, including California's Consumer Protection Act (CCPA), VanDruff said.
Consumers “are paying attention” to the fact that “the experience online is evolving,” she added.
At the same time, “legislatures are responding to the interests and demands of their constituents,” as is evident by the many laws in this area introduced and passed in recent years. VanDruff noted that a “number of state legislatures [have expanded] privacy protections to minors,” so as not to rely “exclusively on COPPA,” as an example.
Additionally, “there has also been a movement with respect to sensitive information and data minimization,” she said. All of this “reflects changes in consumer expectations.”
Though consumer expectations “are reflected differently in different state laws … that is the nature of federalism,” VanDruff added.