International Data Protection Laws

INTERNATIONAL DATA PROTECTION LAWS

In the past year, three more countries — Mexico, Malaysia, and Taiwan — have adopted comprehensive national privacy laws that regulate the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information. These new privacy laws differ considerably from those in the United States. U.S. laws typically focus on addressing misuse of information and seek to protect individuals from particular harms. These three laws instead are omnibus laws that extend protections to all personal information and focus not only on the use of information but also on the collection and disclosure of personal information. With the addition of these three new international laws, there are now almost eighty countries with comprehensive privacy laws in effect, many of which have their own unique regulatory requirements. The addition of each new foreign law poses greater compliance challenges for global organizations. This article provides an overview of the requirements