Web3 entrepreneur, investor, CBDC inventor, and founder of Panther, Bitt, BaseTwo, Fluent and Elemental. Collaborated with UN, MIT and IMF.
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Regulating privacy isn’t a brand-new idea. Nor is it exclusive to the Information Age.
The roots of the right to privacy come from ancient Roman law and Greek philosophy. The distinction between the public realm (the polis) and the private realm (the citizen) was born in the same place as democracy: ancient Greece. It then influenced the Roman legal concept of “actio iniuriarum,” which established the inviolability of one’s residence and punished attacks on dignity and reputation—cornerstones of individuality.
As modern privacy regulations unavoidably expand into the digital realm, the decisions being made right now will shape all of our futures. In this article, I’ll dive into how businesses can play an active role in shaping these norms and standards while attentively adapting to changes to remain competitive. I urge you not to idly observe as society settles on frameworks that will tremendously impact what the virtual world will look like.
Preferences In Privacy
Let us start by addressing an often-overlooked truth: Consumers prefer privacy. A free society dictates the kind of laws it wants according to its needs, and consumers (who vote with their money) seem to be turning to data protection.
While some leeway exists, one report found that over 79% of internet users have expressed a willingness to invest time and money into protecting their data or pay extra for products with better privacy features. Furthermore, more than two-thirds of us think that current privacy laws are outdated and need improvement to better protect our data.
It is no coincidence then that new data regulation is spreading throughout the globe, and such uniform change can only be the result of a public opinion shift. Other trends surrounding the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)—one of the few regulations that have successfully espoused user ownership of data—show that most users believe they are knowledgeable about their privacy rights.
Most modern consumers are growing concerned (download required) by the poor handling and surveillance of their data, becoming better informed about their rights and are willing to make efforts to improve their experience. This creates a perfect storm for privacy that large corporations are only recently getting attuned to.
Apple, for example, has turned privacy into a selling point for its devices. Google has also been bringing privacy features to Android and endorsing alternatives to the invasive but ubiquitous browser cookies model. By being pro-privacy, these companies distance themselves and effectively shame those that don’t. With privacy as the norm, doing nothing can be costly in the public perception game.
Changing Regulations At Times Of Bleeding-Edge Tech
It’s not too hard to figure out what makes a regulatory framework adequate. Regulation must be effective in avoiding bad outcomes—in this case, leaks and unauthorized use of customer data—while keeping compliance costs reasonable. Compliance should ideally be attainable even for small businesses to avoid excessive entry barriers. It also shouldn’t infringe on the rights of customers or businesses.
Bad regulation can be catastrophic. It can destroy businesses, severely limit entire industries’ capability to compete in global markets, block improvements to the status quo and hamper innovation in the long term—all the while failing to solve the problems that motivate it.
And, while regulations may seem like a field that does not always transform along with the times, technological tools that bridge the gap between compliance and privacy are starting to emerge. One possibility is to utilize technology to give users full control of their data without bypassing a platform’s ability to set rules and veto them.
Alternatives like zero-knowledge technology can fill these gaps and verify users’ identities, funds and backgrounds while guaranteeing their confidentiality. Implementing this technology to different facets of digital life would keep, for example, creditors from knowing the exact amounts of money sitting in a given person’s accounts or social media platforms from storing individual user data. It might just be that thanks to the (mostly open-source) cryptographic developments of the last few years, privacy and confidentiality finally meet each other in a win-win scenario.
Businesses Can Influence Rulemaking
Happily, you don’t always need a huge budget to help make a change in regulations.
Political action committees and advocacy groups are a great way for you to take action without devoting a great deal of your organization’s time and resources. Union generates force. Intuitively, this also makes sense: If you don’t advocate your case, someone else will, and their cause might not favor you.
Putting out informational content and openly discussing issues is also important. While the favorable public opinion does not guarantee the implementation of a certain policy, research supports that it does have a substantial impact on it. Working toward shifting public opinion is then a good medium-to-long-term strategy to be approached from multiple angles.
Remember that those drafting policies are looking for wins, so by moving public opinion, you might as well present one. If you’re a successful business, you likely already know how to create compelling, informative and shareable content. Go and make privacy memeable.
Flaunt Your Support For Privacy
If you take home one thing from this article, make it the following: experiment and act. The name of the game is creating value.
In any market, a valuable, desired service appropriately priced will be paid for. You can create privacy-preserving products for individuals, corporations, governments and any niche you can think of. You can leverage existing privacy-enhancing technologies to create new products and services. The possibilities are endless.
If you already working for privacy, make sure to flaunt this loud and often. Make others know. As someone constantly talking to the world about ways to further user privacy, I can tell you that there are a lot more of us than you might think. By creating value together, we will always achieve a net positive for humanity.
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