The Wall Street Journal reports on how EU privacy laws are more protective than in other countries: Europe’s New High-Tech Role: Playing Privacy Cop to World
Fundamental philosophical differences separate the U.S. and European approaches. Europe has defined privacy as a human right, while in the U.S. data-protection laws can quickly run afoul of free-speech protections enshrined in the Constitution. The dichotomy is most apparent in direct marketing. Europe’s privacy laws essentially force businesses to get permission before they make telemarketing calls to their customers. In the U.S., a federal court in Denver recently blocked a national do-not-call registry from taking full effect this month, saying it violates a company’s First Amendment rights. An appeals court put that ruling on temporary hold Tuesday, letting the registry proceed until the court makes a final ruling
