What can be done in legislation to reduce the file effect of internet and its impacts.

File effect of internet  i today's world is enormous imagine Google searching ones name and all the personal information are seen by all who cares to see them, example of the effect of file of internet is seen in identity theft.

 This is rampant in this internet era due to the fact that some companies even governments gather their customers and or citizens data and pile them up somewhere tagged database, before data storage was a big issue but nowadays the challenge is in the past as technology  has grown and widespread and law is crawling behind to catch up( A mission impossible)

„ The link https://www.privacyrights.org/ar/id_theft.htm  revealed that “Another reason identity theft is skyrocketing is that it does not yet get the attention of law enforcement that more violent crimes receive - like breaking and entering, mugging, robbery by gunpoint, and bank thefts. Many violent criminals and organized crime rings are moving to identity theft because they know that law enforcement resources are not yet sufficient to investigate the majority of such crimes. Identity thieves are rarely apprehended and sentenced. If they are, penalties are minimal and rarely include jail time. Community service and parole are the usual sentences“.

For instance in US the Internet is becoming a more popular resource for identity thieves. Yes, there are web sites that sell individuals' Social Security numbers. Social Security numbers can be purchased for as little as $20.  At this time, there are no restrictions on the sale of credit headers to information brokers. Consumers have no way to "opt-out" of the sale of their credit header data. The information broker industry adopted a voluntary privacy policy in 1997, but it has been ineffective in restricting the sale of sensitive personal information to the general public.

It is not surprising to know that social media and search engines have more than necessary information that can sell anybody out today. Here i recommend strong international legislation to protect the data  and privacy of  individuals most especially on the internet in such a way that informed consent principle in law will be applied for all, meaning that for any information to be accessed by a third party as regards individuals, the consent of the individual or permission of the individual  should be requested and verified before the information is released by the responsible institutions either governments or companies. If there will be exception, the line should be clearly stated.

But to me, the question is how do we draw a line between secrecy and privacy so that we do not jeopardize transparency?

I will suggest internationalization of EU directives on data protection  and privacy. In the same vein, mandate it for all internet technology provider to delete info that are up to a period of Three years in their database without usage.

Legislation alone cannot reduce the negative effect of file effect s of internet users. Education of the users to know what to be able to draw a line between what they make public online or not is also essential.