Tracking technologies, identifiability, and privacy regulations

Yu, Xiaowei

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/116143 Copy

Description

Title

Tracking technologies, identifiability, and privacy regulations

Author(s)

Yu, Xiaowei

Issue Date

2022-05-17

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Murphy, Colleen

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Murphy, Colleen

Committee Member(s)

• Hurd, Heidi
• Rowell, Arden
• Kar, Robin

Department of Study

Law

Discipline

Law

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

J.S.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Tracking
• Technologies
• Privacy
• Identifiability

Abstract

Technology companies have made billions of dollars surveilling people through online cookies, smart devices, and algorithms, yet there is no consensus on whether privacy laws should intervene. Transnational privacy laws’ responses to these privacy concerns depend upon the underlying identifiability of information; that is, whether data can be exclusively linked to a person. As a general rule, no violation of privacy legally occurs unless data are personally identifiable. There are two puzzles in applying identifiability in the context of the commercial use of tracking technologies (CUTTs). First, companies can single out a unique individual by combining non-identifiable data. In isolation, these data do not cause privacy concerns. But in combination, they can potentially cause privacy harms. Second, there exist diverging approaches to applying identifiability across jurisdictions. Different jurisdictions have opposite opinions on whether the same data should be treated as identifiable. After surveying statues and cases in the EU, U.S., and China, I found divergent and incompatible ways to categorize identifiable data. I call these common difficulties on defining and applying identifiability across jurisdictions the identifiability problem. This dissertation explains why jurisdictions are struggling to protect privacy through regulating CUTTs. CUTTs pose profound challenges to privacy that multiple jurisdictions remain unable to adequately address. As a comparative legal study, this dissertation discusses the similarities and differences in privacy laws in the EU, U.S., and China regarding CUTTs and the shared struggles to regulate CUTTs these jurisdictions face.

Graduation Semester

2022-08

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2022 Xiaowei Yu

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