Byte a Carrot for Change: Uprooting Problems in Data Privacy Regulations

Authors

Sarah Terry

Abstract

There is a growing gap between technology advancement and a lagging regulatory system. This is particularly problematic in consumer data privacy regulating. Companies hold collected consumer data and determine its use largely without accountability. As a result, ethical questions that carry society-shaping impact are answered in-house, under the influence of groupthink, and are withheld from anyone else weighing in.

This Note poses a solution that would address multiple data privacy regulation issues. Namely, an incentive approach would help even out the information-imbalanced system. Incentives are used as tools throughout intellectual property law to foster commercial progress, discourage trade secrets, and protect consumers. These goals can also be achieved through integrating an incentive into consumer data privacy regulating.

This Note first highlights major issues in the current consumer data privacy federal regulatory landscape. Next, this Note proposes and outlines a narrow FTC whistleblower incentive, unearthing how an incentive would alleviate each major regulatory issue. Finally, this Note discusses eight compelling reasons for the incentive, and ultimately confronts and rebuts its drawbacks.

Rights

© 2023 Brigham Young University Law Review

Recommended Citation

Sarah Terry, Byte a Carrot for Change: Uprooting Problems in Data Privacy Regulations, 49 BYU L. Rev. 607 (2023).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/lawreview/vol49/iss2/11