Data protection and the law : is the modern era conterminous to a post-privacy era?

Abstract

The notion of privacy is clearly linked to the idea of information flow on the part of the individual himself, who takes upon himself the role of ‘gatekeeper’, so to speak, determining which information related to their digital persona is to be rendered public. Needless to say, both the rise of the social networks phenomenon and the concept of one-to-many communication have deeply altered the traditional notions of privacy, especially when one takes into account the fact that one’s ability to control the information that has been shared with others ceases once others make subsequent use thereof. In an era in which millions upon millions of individuals trust social networking sites with highly sensitive data such as addresses, mobile numbers, and real-time location in an attempt to remain in contact with a select number of chosen friends or followers, few are aware of the fact that hiding behind the clicks of a social media website may no longer give rise to absolute protection or non-disclosure of personal data from the law.