International Policy Management

Posted May 13, 2021 Updated May 6, 2024

DALL-E Image of Globe created using small geometric shapes in a monochrome design on a black background.

By Mehul Sen 8 min read

Introduction

Technology is advancing rapidly, and the Internet connects people globally, regardless of location. According to the 2021 statistics published by Leftronic, almost 40% of the world’s population can access the Internet, and 90% of the world’s data has been generated in the last two years alone. IT companies are no longer limited to one country.

This creates a complex legal landscape, as data protection laws such as the GDPR in Europe and the CCPA in California impose different requirements.

Most have international headquarters, and data continuously flows across geographic borders. Therefore, the information they collect is no longer subject to a single set of policies and data privacy regulations. Instead, this data must be managed based on the policies of various server locations in different countries, each with unique laws. This poses a new set of challenges that we have never experienced before. To tackle this issue, an intergovernmental organization like the United Nations could create standardized policies, ensure streamlined data privacy and management laws, and make it easier for businesses to expand internationally.

It’s beneficial for businesses and policymakers to engage with international standards to ensure smoother global operations.

Audience

The involvement of numerous nations, a role that the United Nations can effectively play, is crucial for this implementation. The UN’s potential to unite different cyberspaces and ensure regulated and smooth data flow and conflict resolution is not only significant but also highly relevant in today’s interconnected world. The UN’s successful aid and assistance to various nations and its contribution to the economic development of different countries further underscores its capability to handle international policies and agreements.

The Problem

Data privacy and management laws vary significantly across different countries. Each nation has its unique set of challenges, so it has established specific regulations and rules to address them. These laws are put in place with the belief that they serve the best interests of their respective countries.

Be vigilant about the data privacy laws applicable in your region, especially when dealing with international services.

This is particularly relevant in cybersecurity, where data regulation and privacy laws differ from country to country. Some nations place a strong emphasis on safeguarding the privacy of their citizens, and on achieving this, they have created data privacy laws that outline how IT companies must collect, store, and manage customer data, as well as what rules apply to sharing that data with third parties.

The European Union has set an excellent example by implementing policies that protect user privacy and personal data.

EU’s GDPR includes provisions like data minimization and the right to erasure, aimed at enhancing personal data security.

However, some countries allow the collection of personal data and mass surveillance of their citizens. While this can enable them to act quickly on potential threats to the government, countries like North Korea, China, and Russia follow this principle.

Countries with mass surveillance like North Korea and China pose significant risks to personal privacy and freedom of expression.

Underdeveloped countries may not have well-defined data privacy laws and regulations. With such a wide range of policies worldwide, creating solid data and privacy laws that are universally accepted and implemented is difficult. Nonetheless, one thing that all countries have in common is their dependence on businesses.

Every country aims to expand its business infrastructure and boost its economy. Currently, the tech industry is one of the leading industries in the world, and it is growing at an incredible pace. As most businesses are moving online, every nation must cooperate with these businesses to avoid losing a significant part of their economy. Among the most prominent players in the tech industry are IT companies such as Facebook and Google, which are expanding internationally to increase their audience and customer base. This expansion requires collaboration between both the governments and the companies themselves. Governments allow these companies to operate within their countries, ensuring they are not left out, while private companies grow their businesses. Businesses are no longer confined to specific countries and tend to expand internationally to larger markets, which is much more profitable for them. However, sharing user data with servers in different countries worldwide creates an issue. To comply with the policies imposed by other countries, privacy policies become even more complicated. There is no clear consensus on handling this data, and legal loopholes are created due to the differences in policies and regulations. This results in situations where data privacy laws can be neglected, putting the safety and privacy of individuals at risk. This is unexplored territory regarding policies, as never in human history has this much personal data been collected, let alone transported across geographical boundaries and stored in different parts of the world.

Rapid Cyberspace vs. Established Cyberspace

Governments have realized the significance of data policies and sharing with other nations. As a result, they are taking action by creating policies in this regard. They can either work individually or collaborate with other countries. Working individually gives them complete authority over enforced policies and laws. This makes imposing restrictions and monitoring data flow easier while providing them with a secure cyberspace fast. By doing so, they can become one of the leading countries in terms of policies and laws and managing their cybersecurity issues.

This can lead to ‘data localization,’ where data must be stored within the country, complicating international business operations.

However, this approach makes conducting international business much more complicated since they cannot enforce their policies and laws throughout that business. This eventually leads to the nation closing itself to global companies that do not comply with their policies, seriously impacting their economy.

The Internet is a global network that allows data to travel across the world, passing through servers located in different countries. It would be challenging to impose restrictions on the data that enters and leaves countries, and such restrictions would significantly limit the Internet’s capabilities.

However, governments can collaborate and work on standardized data laws that align with different countries’ data laws. This approach could lead to a less cluttered set of regulations and data privacy laws that would strengthen the cyberspace in the long term.

Collaborative efforts could mirror the EU’s GDPR, which has set a benchmark for data protection and influenced global data privacy standards.

Advanced countries may be incentivized to share standard international data policies with less-developed countries to establish their businesses over them. This collaboration would benefit less-developed countries by enabling them to adopt robust cybersecurity policies and establish common data laws, while more developed nations would accelerate their development.

Recommendation

Different territories like land, ocean, and space have been successfully managed with policies and regulations. Similarly, cyberspace can also be managed efficiently with standardized policies. The United Nations (UN) has a proven track record of successfully handling international conflicts and issues, making them capable of handling cyberspace conflicts and creating standardized policies.

Adopting unified international data policies can facilitate global trade and enhance security measures across nations.

The UN can take the first step in unifying nations and setting guidelines agreed upon by various countries. They can preside over international agreements made by countries to decide how data should be shared among each other and oversee the data shared between different governments, ensuring that data privacy laws are maintained. A central, standardized set of policies would benefit every member nation in this agreement, allowing faster implementation and changes as newer technologies are adopted. Since every member nation would comply with these policies, businesses between these countries would no longer need to navigate complicated obstacles. Member nations could work together and collectively vote on changes and modifications to these policies. Any arising disagreements and issues would also be remediated effectively, with the UN acting as an intermediary.

Collaboration initiatives like the European Union’s general data protection regulation are emerging to standardize privacy policies for many European countries. If the United Nations could simplify and standardize data regulation policies, international companies would find it easier to implement inviolable privacy policies. This could also prove helpful in instances where governments have to work together and share their data and resources. Josephine Wolff, in Chapter 4 about Operation Tovar, described how international governments collaborated to combat the GameOverZeus botnet.

It would be beneficial for governments to adopt standardized policies for cyberspace, as it would help them expand their businesses and boost their economies. Additionally, it would create a much safer and more secure online environment. The implementation of these policies would be expensive and require significant investments from governments around the world to work together. However, it could bring us closer together as a society and provide a long-term solution to international issues surrounding data and privacy.

Standardizing these policies would require detailed frameworks akin to the GDPR, focusing on consent, transparency, and individual rights.

References

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