Who stands up for individual privacy in the digital society?

Data storage Digital services Digitization Integrity

No one should have missed the revolutionary social change brought about by the use of digital technology and communication. Old structures are being destroyed and new ones are being created. A familiar, local world is being replaced by a borderless and sometimes incomprehensible counterpart with endless possibilities. Most of them are good, but as with all changes, there are also challenges and sometimes direct threats.

All these new products and services lead to the generation of huge amounts of data, which can be processed and combined in different ways to create both societal and economic value.

At the same time, companies involved in delivering these new services and products are increasingly required to disclose the information they hold on their customers to other actors in society. The tax authorities are demanding customer data in bulk in order to conduct audits, the judiciary is requiring internet service providers to mass-store data on who all their customers communicate with, and copyright interests want to introduce censorship to limit the possibilities for free communication. At the same time, there are calls for legislation to restrict the ability of companies to process personal data and make it more difficult to customize offers based on personal preferences, citing privacy concerns.

Here it is clear that the legislation and the legislator have not been able to adapt the conditions to today's digital society. The state seems to have put the most effort into gaining access to information about digital service providers' customers. At the same time, companies' ability to create value for users is being restricted by the same government.

This has led to a situation where, in many cases, it is the provider who has to take the greatest responsibility for the individual's right to free communication and protection of their personal data vis-à-vis the state. Even more demands will be made if no one speaks up. But who will speak up? The question is whether it is enough, or even appropriate, that it is mainly the ICT industry itself that is fighting this battle on behalf of its customers?