One Step Forward, Two Steps Back? Critical Observations on the Proposed Reform of the EU Data Protection Framework

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 서울대학교 법학연구소
· 수록지 정보 : 경제규제와 법 / 6권 / 1호 / 57 ~ 84페이지
· 저자명 : Judith Rauhofer

초록

Recent changes in market dynamics of electronic and mobile commerce mean that users of online services are no longer “passive agents of consumption”.
Instead online business models increasingly provide a platform for user interaction while simultaneously relying on the contributions made by those users for the population of those spaces. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the area of social networking where services like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter allow customers to present an online version of themselves to others and to engage with friends, family and virtual strangers in online conversations.
A recent Pew Internet survey 1) found that in 2012, 67 per cent of all adult Internet users in the US used social networking services (SNS), up from 65 per cent in the previous year and 61 per cent in the year before. In the UK, the Office of National Statistic’s 2011 Statistical Bulletin on Internet Access identifies social networking as one of the most popular online activities with 48 per cent of Internet users saying they took part in social networking.2) SNS are increasingly embraced1) by older3) as well as younger4) users and their integration into everyday life is slowly changing the way in which individuals communicate, socialise, organise their lives, and engage with commercial players.
Despite the astounding increase in their user base over a relatively short period of time, one of the key challenges for SNS has always been the development of a credible monetisation strategy that encourages investment and allows for further innovation with a view to securing a foothold in a fast-changing market.
Like many other online services that form part of the Web 2.0 economy, SNS, in the main, are offered free at the point of access. Instead of charging their users a monetary fee, most SNS providers generate revenue through payments they receive from third parties in exchange for the right directly to display advertising to their users or in exchange for providing aggregated data on those users’ behaviour, likes and dislikes.
According to Gartner, worldwide social media revenue is expected to reach $16.9 billion in 2012, an increase of 43.1 per cent from 2011.5) Of this amount $8.8 billion is said to derive from advertising revenue.
New advertising models like social advertising and peer recommendations (for example, Facebook’s “Like” and Google’s “+1” buttons) only serve to illustrate further the online industry’s continuing commitment to this business model and its resulting desire to maximise revenue through the tracking, monitoring and profiling of its user base according to their age, gender, interests, social class and financial acumen.
This means that users now “pay” for online services with the personal information they disclose. Without that personal information, online platforms would lie empty and devoid of substance and SNS providers would not be able to produce the “product” (that is, the personal and behavioural data) from which they actually derive commercial value. Despite repeated announcements by members of the SNS industry that they are committed to the protection of their users’ 5) “Gartner Says Worldwide Social Media Revenue Forecast to Reach $16.9 Billion in 2012”, 25 July 2012, available at https://www.gartner.com/ it/page.jsp?id=2092217, last visited on 23 April 2013.
online privacy, it can therefore not be denied that, in practice, a high level of privacy protection is likely to be in stark conflict with SNS providers’ business objectives and that, in reality, most SNS providers are entirely dependent for their market position on promoting an environment that encourages “openness” and widespread information-sharing by their users through the use of default privacy settings and the subtle encouragement of maximum disclosure in the form of financial and non-financial incentives (for example, additional “free” functionality).

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