Most digital marketing is based on past and future behaviors. Platforms collect digital data on how customers behave online. Personalized experiences wouldn’t be possible if businesses didn’t know how their users behaved. There are occurrences and possibilities when businesses know too much about their customers. Digital privacy surrounding user behavior and their data is an area of concern for many. Individual states and the federal government have implemented various data privacy acts to restrict the amount of available digital data.
There are three major data privacy acts that you should be aware of.
GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation
CCPA – California Consumer Privacy Act
ADA – Americans with Disabilities Act
GDPR
This law went into effect in 2018 for European Union citizens, no matter where a company is located. An American based corporation that serves European Union citizens falls under the guidelines of the GDPR. Corporations must ask for consent to collect, store, or use personal data. Corporations must have a valid legal reason to collect personal data. This can complicate the legal proceedings of any corporation.
CCPA
The CCPA came into effect in 2020 only in California. California citizens have more power about their privacy rights. Citizens can correct any inaccurate personal information and limit the use and disclosure of sensitive personal information. The law also forces corporations to provide notices about their revised privacy practices. If a citizen requests it, a corporation may have to delete or acknowledge the storage, collection, and/or use of their personal data.
ADA
The ADA act became law in 1990 and it prevents discrimination based on disability. This act required corporations to have physical modifications, like ramps and elevators, to accommodate any disability. In 2022, the ADA act was updated for website accessibility. Websites must be structured so that anyone with a disability can access and operate your website. Here are ways you can make your websites more accessible: add more color contrast, add alternative text or images, add captions on videos, make online forms more accessible, and utilize keyboard navigation instead of mouse only navigation. At Front Row Digital, we perform ADA website compliance updates for all of our clients.
Future of Digital Data Protection Regulations
As companies use more and more personal data on users, governments may legalize more data protection regulations. Additional regulations can occur at the local, state, or federal levels. As a corporation, you must stay aware of any laws that pertain to your business. Speak with your legal team on how to best approach this. Privacy-enhancing computation creates trusted digital environments where you can share and store data. It can prevent any data leaks or hacking. AI will certainly challenge our current data privacy laws. AI can be used to enhance or take down data privacy laws. It’s best to design AI to enhance data security.
Regardless of what the future looks like, data privacy is here to stay. It’s best to stay ahead of the curve and prepare your corporation for stricter data collection guidelines.
