Several academics credit the Brussels Effect—which has been covered in several studies—for the internationalization of privacy law (El-Khoury, 2021; Niebel, 2021; Mercer, 2020; Ryngaert & Taylor, 2020). Anu Bradford (2012) proposed this term to help explain why nations are progressively adopting laws akin to the GDPR. Simply said, it explains how market systems allow the European Union to spread its rules and values around the world. The size and appeal of the EU market basically determine how market processes are set. Whether other countries implement comparable policies will determine whether one can engage in this market free from obstacles (El-Khoury, 2021). The GDPR had a significant extraterritorial impact, pushing other nations to act in line to stay competitive in the world economy.
The effect of the Snowden disclosures and growing privacy concerns
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This set off a domino effect whereby other nations adopted the same (Niebel, 2021). Research on the Brussels Effect in relation to the GDPR is lacking now, and empirical data has yet to be found. Still, it is clear that the development fits the main traits needed for the Brussels impact to show (Niebel, 2021).The Development of Personal Privacy. A constantly shifting concept, privacy is shaped by events and new laws. Privacy is understood and protected in somewhat different ways throughout the last decade (El-Khoury, 201). This part emphasizes important features of the privacy development in recent years in order to grasp the causes and consequences of privacy protection. It addresses privacy violations, shifting user perceptions, the value of personal data to Big Tech, and the consequent effects for companies. Unfortunately, cases of privacy violations and data breaches are somewhat common in the digital sphere. Big Tech businesses and large international corporations have been engaged in several such events (Hasselbalch & Tranberg, 2018). For instance, the 2021 Birch et al. study shed some light on the relationship between Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, and the US Presidential election of 2016. Edward Snowden exposed crucial information about Western nations' widespread surveillance in June 2013, especially the "Five Eyes" cooperation with the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Among the illegal activities covered by the surveillance were hacking encryption standards, malware infecting many personal devices, and mining of telecommunication networks (Summary 2015).
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Under the cover of widespread monitoring, the PRISM program convinced large digital corporations including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Apple to forward customer data to intelligence agencies (Summary 2015). Notwithstanding assertions of ignorance by tech behemoths and others, the experience seriously undermined faith in their offerings. It thus had far-reaching political, cultural, and financial repercussions worldwide, raising privacy issues among Internet users and driving a massive global movement of privacy awareness during that decade (Hasselbalch and Tranberg, 2018). This is especially pertinent since Western elected governments started the surveillance instead than profit-driven companies or hackers (Summary, 2015). Therefore, one could regard the Snowden Effect as a turning point in current initiatives aiming at enhancing privacy. Research papers published recently unequivocally show a rise in user privacy concerns. When asked how worried consumers are about their online privacy, most of over 23,000 poll participants—especially 53%—especially. Statista (2021a) reports that people from 25 countries expressed more fear in February 2019 than in the year before. 86% of US citizens surveyed expressed increasing privacy concerns. The study revealed that a good number of participants worried about the moral handling of personal information by data collectors. Moreover, many people felt reluctant to share their data to companies (Lucas, 2021). These numbers are not without context since 33% of the business leaders surveyed agreed that consumers should wonder about how companies manage their data. Based on additional research, more than 90% of online users indicate having various privacy issues. Moreover, forty percent of consumers worry that their personal data is being sold to third parties without their permission (NortonLifeLock, 2020). The increased public awareness points to a new social trend that companies and legislators have to take into account going ahead.
The meeting point of privacy technology and Big Tech
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Leading technology companies are aggressively investigating better online privacy protection. Still, their business models depend on personal data and monitoring of user metrics and behavior is essential. Relying on digital advertising to run their business, they provide their products for free in exchange for user data instead of charging users money (Summary, 2015). Statista forecasts for 2022 show Google and Meta—formerly known as Facebook—leading the industry in advertising revenue. Google made a stunning $209.5 billion, while Meta brought in $114 billion. When Google created its internet advertising network, Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords), in 2000, it started turning a profit from its offerings. In 2007 Meta launched Meta Ads Manager—previously Facebook Ads. Big tech businesses are trying to raise privacy protection, however their advertising income mostly depends on personal data, so there is a conflict of interest even if they are making efforts (Reindel & Møller, 2020). Big Tech makes some very interesting movements that should be emphasized. Apple adopted intelligent tracking prevention (ITP) for Safari in 2017 in response to legislative concerns about third-party cookies in browsers. They further moved in 2019 and turned off third-party cookies by default (Jain, 201). Firefox declared intentions to implement such equivalent policies the same year. At last keeping up with the trends, Google Chrome is embracing the future free from cookies. It will not support those bothersome outside cookies by the end of 2023. Understanding the value of user privacy and the necessity of more effective advertising plans, Google has started the Privacy Sandbox project as a substitute for targeting based on cookies. Such
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