Protect Our Data! A Digital Consumer Bill of Rights | PCWorld

Protect Our Data! A Digital Consumer Bill of Rights | PCWorld:

PC World editor, Mark Sullivan has written several editorials in PC World.  He has also posted a video: http://www.pcworld.com/article/250251/a_digital_consumer_bill_of_rights.html

His editorial in February 2012 hit the nail on the head!  However his editorial in the “Consumer Watch” section of the May 2012 PC World issue focused down on the critical issues:
1. We have the right to know what any internet company plans to do with our data
2. The data we store or post “in the cloud” is our property. The internet company doesn’t gain rights to it by posting it on their web site
3. We have the right to expect reasonable protection of our data
4. If the Government wants to monitor our digial transmissions, they should get a search warrant first

Prior to computers, when a person was suspected of committing a crime, law enforcement could obtain a search warrant.  With that warrant, usually police would grab the suspects files and notebooks, bank records, photos etc.  After everyone started getting computers, the police would focus on hard drives of the suspect’s computers.  Generally that contained most of the critical evidence, since data was moving from paper to computers.  Now everything is moving to the “cloud” or smartphone.  Because of this, we now need the same protections for our digital data that we have always had for our other personal property and information.  I believe the intent of our Bill of Rights was to protect this information.