8
Chapter 8 Outline:
8.1 Communication Privacy
8.2 Data Privacy
8.3 Tips for Protection
Introduction
This chapter will discuss the last two domains, communication and information privacy, identified in the previous chapter. Indeed, these two domains form an integral part of what consumers think about (or not) when privacy comes to mind. Unlike some areas of law, consumers do have an enormous amount of control over what data companies use by controlling the amount of data the consumers give in the first place. Consumers are however, in some ways at the mercy of what data is collected and how that data is used. As was indicated in the previous chapter, privacy laws with respect to data in the United States are not always adequate to protect the privacy of consumers. In the absence of adequate legal protections, companies continuously develop novel ways of collecting data, sometimes with troubling consequences.
While individual data points, like whether an individual prefers Coke over Pepsi or scented over unscented lotion, are not particularly useful as single data points, but when multiple data points are combined and manipulated, corporations can create more individualized (yet sometimes creepy) predictions. For example, Target developed an algorithm to predict which stage of pregnancy a woman was in to send them targeted advertising. When customers purchased large amounts of prenatal vitamins that signaled they were usually within the first twenty weeks. If customers purchased large amounts of soap, cotton balls, hand sanitizer, and washcloths, that meant they were nearing their delivery date. Target would then send those women coupons for those items they might need in their near future. In 2011, a father became upset at a Target manager when his daughter had received ads targeted for pregnant women. The father later apologized to the manager after he found out that his daughter, as Target had predicted, was actually pregnant.
8.1 Communication Privacy
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you should be able to:
- Understand the importance of communication privacy
- Describe the function of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act
The third domain of communication privacy refers to workplace email monitoring, phone call recording, and wiretapping. Generally, employees do not have much expectation of privacy when on company grounds and using company equipment (i.e. computers, cell phones, etc.). In other words, employees should expect their emails to be read by management or their supervisors.
The Electronics Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) updated the Federal Wiretap Act if 1968, which addressed the interception of hardline telephone conversation, but did not address electronic forms of communications. The ECPA contained three provisions. The first provision, referred to as the Wiretap Act prohibits intentional, actual, or attempted interception, use or disclosure or procurement of any wire, oral, or electronic communicatio