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Laws, Regulations, and Policies

There are many laws, regulations, cases, and policies that govern the different concepts of privacy.

Each state, country, and sometimes industry may have its own privacy laws covering various things.  Laws related to bodily, territorial, and communication privacy have existed for many decades and have substantial case law. 

Examples of laws, regulations, cases, and policies that impact bodily, territorial, or communications privacy include:

Even so, new technologies have tested these laws that were written for a different time. Laws that were written with the postal system or a wallet in mind don’t translate neatly to a world of ISPs and smart devices. Sometimes, privacy issues are couched within other laws or cases. 

Data privacy laws, on the other hand, are relatively new. They are constantly changing to keep up with the new technologies that have drastically expanded our understanding of how we collect data and the utility of that data. Data privacy laws are not only concerned with keeping data confidential, but also with empowering individuals to control and understand what data are collected and how they are used, to participate in that process where possible, and to be notified of any incidents related to their data. Examples of data privacy laws are: