The Difficulties Current American Law Faces in Protecting Internet Users’ Privacy : The Devil is in the Details

This article provides an analysis of the laws potentially applicable to the online collection and use of personal information by the private sector. It begins by examining corporations’ current practices of deploying sophisticated software to gather, use, and disclose information about users. The article contends that current applicable law, particularly federal statutory law, is too fragmented and dated to properly safeguard individuals’ privacy rights on the Internet. The article proceeds to define the privacy interests at stake and considers and ultimately rejects the arguments that many users either do not care that their online behavior is tracked and their data mined or that they give companies fully informed consent related to the data collection. Finally, the article offers a brief proposal for a comprehensive federal statute regulating the use and security of personal information in the hands of companies.