How Europe, US can solve Internet privacy

[Commentary] Officials from the US and European Union hope to come up with a new agreement soon before transatlantic digital commerce grinds to a halt and the Internet becomes balkanized by the world’s two leading economies. Their work should help set new global standards on data privacy.

Each side should consult “A Question of Trust,” a report on how to balance privacy and the need for data collection by governments and business. Author David Anderson says privacy is key to concepts such as identity, dignity, autonomy, independence, imagination and creativity. It “facilitates trust, friendship and intimacy: qualities that allow us to relate freely to each other....” Finding a trustworthy arbiter that can balance privacy and other interests, such as security and business, is not an easy task. Judges, regulators, laws, and other means must be found to build that trust.