Comments to the UK Ministry of Justice on EU Draft Data Protection Regulation

The approaches taken in Europe to privacy are clearly different than in the United States. In Europe, privacy is seen as a right, and as a right, it trumps other personal and societal values. In contrast, in the United States, many people see privacy as one value among many, and as such, must be balanced against other competing interests. While citizens and policymakers on different sides of the Atlantic may disagree on these broad frameworks for privacy, both may still seek common objectives: namely, creating policies that protect the privacy of the individual while minimizing the burdens imposed on businesses and other organizations. With this in mind, we offer the following recommendations:

• Avoid regulations that negatively impact the Internet economy
• Consider the impact of regulations on future innovations
• Create regulations that specify outcomes rather than methods
• Avoid regulations that impose excessive burdens on organizations
• Avoid broad industry-wide regulations when sector-specific regulations would be more appropriate