Widening digital divide over privacy

Adigital divide is opening up in the way data are regulated in emerging and advanced economies. Developments in China and India have exposed the challenges posed when technology outpaces privacy and data protection. As the gold rush for consumer data intensifies, the need for an even playing field for technology companies across multiple markets is becoming clearer. So too is the imperative to protect consumers in the developing world.

China is developing a system to predict crimes before they happen by tracking the behaviour of citizens and using facial recognition, mostly on CCTV, to identify their whereabouts. Four provinces already shame jaywalkers by projecting CCTV footage and personal details on to public screens, underlining China’s march towards an omnipresent surveillance state. While the state is unconstrained, a new data protection law does, however, limit intrusion by private companies.

In India, the government has argued that privacy is not a fundamental right, in a case before the Supreme Court that stemmed from its biometric identity system. Concerns that personal data are being centralised were fuelled when the state started using the system to transfer benefits while simultaneously creating a payment system that allows transactions using fingerprints.

By contrast, in the US and EU, state and private companies face higher hurdles, designed to safeguard privacy. The French constitutional court, for example, set strict limits on the use of identity documents for law enforcement. The UK abandoned its identity card programme partly due to privacy concerns. In the US, a lawsuit led Google to change the way it accesses e-mails. The company also faced a $22.5m fine in 2012 for violating the privacy of Apple users.

Even putting aside principled arguments, there are clear dangers inherent in lax privacy and data protection laws in some emerging markets. London, July 27.