Internet Privacy Rights

Book excerpt: Internet Privacy Rights analyses the current threats to our online autonomy and privacy and proposes a new model for the gathering, retention and use of personal data. Key to the model is the development of specific privacy rights: a right to roam the internet with privacy, a right to monitor the monitors, a right to delete personal data and a right to create, assert and protect an online identity. These rights could help in the formulation of more effective and appropriate legislation, and shape more privacy-friendly business models. The conclusion examines how the internet might look with these rights in place and whether such an internet could be sustainable from both a governmental and a business perspective.