With the globalization of the economy, businesses are reaching greater, broader, and more diverse markets in foreign countries in order to increase their revenues. Their websites reach clients and prospects throughout the world anytime, any day, anywhere. To achieve a global presence, companies hire foreign contractors to develop or manufacture products, provide support services, and much more. The foreign subsidiaries routinely send employee information to the company’s headoffice where a central database maintains salary and other employee information for all personnel worldwide. Millions of personal data are collected, used, processed or moved accross borders.
An increasing number of foreign laws are attempting to protect personal data, and preserve and strengthen human rights and fundamental freedoms. These laws are relevant to global companies. Negotiating a deal, corresponding with clients, exchanging contact information for the delivery of a shipment usually entails thecollection, transfer, use, or storage of personal information.
Companies must remember and take into account the different cultures, history, political regime, and different laws when exchanging the personal information of their employees, clients, or contacts with entities located in foreign countries. We also cannot expect a service provider in the Philippines, or a distributor in Italy or Argentina to act in the way we act, to have priorities that are similar to ours. We cannot expect them to treat – or be required to treat – personal information in the same way as we do.
The great discrepancies between the treatments of personal or private information throughout the world make global companies vulnerable to violating foreign data protection laws for lack of awareness of their duties and obligations. The Global Privacy and Security Law book attempts to clarify and explain some of the privacy and security requirements by taking the reader to a journey around the world. It offers a survey of the legal environment related to privacy and security. Its goal is to increase the reader’s awareness of the substantial discrepancies and differences between the legal regimes throughout the world. It hopes to help privacy professionals understand some of the multiple facets of the protection of personal data in corporate and commercial transactions.