- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
The EFF has been calling for national private legislation for a while but now that we have something on the table they are criticizing it. They are calling for state level laws but the problem with local laws is that there are 50 different states for companies to try to keep track of. The other problem with local legislation is that it is hard to enforce as Google or who ever else may not be based in the state that there users are in and each state will be treated differently and will receive different levels of support. We need unification so that companies know and meet the requirements. States are simply to small to be effective against a company.
Even if the privacy act is not completely perfect it can always be expanded or revised in the future. We need something to be passed as technology has surpassed public awareness.
I don’t think that the EFF is missing the point, I think that they’re being politically savvy.
If they simply say “okay, this act is enough… for now”, data vultures will be able to negotiate back some exceptions into the act. Instead, if the EFF criticises the act as being not enough, there’s some chance that additional protections will get added in.
[NB: I’m not from USA nor directly affected by whatever those laws do. I’m solely an external observer.]