Social Media and Online Privacy Law Reflections of 2013 and Forecasts for 2014, by Judith Delaney

Editor’s Note: I’m pleased to present you with the last of this year’s “Reflections and Forecasts” series, provided to us by the extremely intelligent Judith Delaney. Judith is an attorney who specializes in social media law and online privacy issues. The information provided within this post is not to be taken lightly. These are important topics, issues and takeaways that your organization needs to be aware of.

Q:  Give us a brief description of who you are and what you do.

Who I am:

First and foremost I am the Mother of five sons, all of whom have found passion and success in their professional and personal lives.

I am also a skier, avid reader, author and speaker on topics of elements of a contract; privacy of customer/client data in the traditional and digital world; and Social Media rewards/risks; and a former marathon runner until hit by a car in Kona, Hawaii on a beautiful but very dark early morning run.

I am a member of the Wharton School of Business; Harvard School of Business; Social Media Marketing Group; Santa Rosa Connections; Linked San Francisco; and ADR conflict resolution mediation exchange.

I also provide insights and thought leadership through the posts and articles that I publish on my blog, as well as on MACM’s Global Online Privacy and Security Laws Resource Page.

What I do:

Currently, I am the Founder and Chief New Media Compliance Solutions Strategist for CMMR Group – TurnsonPoint, a New Media Compliance Solutions Firm, located in Petaluma, California.

CMMR Group – TurnsonPoint, is a New Media compliance Solutions firm specializing in the integration of new media strategies with business strategies to effectively manage risk associated with Online Compliance, such as the HIPPA Omnibus Rule; Global Social Media privacy and data protection; and Contract Risk Management in the cloud and SaaS market.

My experience and skills as the New Media Compliance Solutions Strategist and a hands-on leader and speaker to individuals and businesses on the importance of understanding and taking action as a strength to success in addressing legal and regulatory changes that affect brands and contractual positions in the Online Global World, have been honed through a professional career of 27 years building and managing corporate legal departments in the role of lead strategist, negotiator and mediator, in order to insure and obtain optimum company goals in the management of corporate risk, globally, for companies such as SAP America and Indus International.

Q:  In terms of social media and online privacy laws/issues, what are your biggest lessons and takeaways of 2013?

In terms of online privacy laws/issues, the biggest lessons and takeaways I am left with are:

1. In spite of the fact that all individuals and organizations can be or have been negatively impacted by some set of privacy and data security issues, there continues to be too much time and words spent on debating the future of privacy regulation on the internet, globally, than any other privacy-related topic, with little or no tangible and meaningful steps being taken by law makers and regulators to actually collaborate as a global team to reach a global consensus that ensures consumers and organizations the right and option to completely control and  protect their privacy rights. (Sorry, but piecemeal “do not track laws”, or  social media platforms allowing you to delete cookies after the fact from your browser, just does not cut it.)
2. The almost total lack of understanding, or just plain apathy, by individuals and organizations in regards to all of the activities and information (including personal and private, proprietary and confidential information) that they provide and post across social media platforms. Why? Because these platforms view these postings as their own product to be used and sold over and over again for more and more profits, with the user taking all the risks if that information violates any law anywhere in the world.

Q:  What do you think are the most important topics and/or issues that organizations need to be aware of?

If you are using social media or the Internet to brand and promote you business then, no matter the size of your organization, you need to be aware of:

• The extent that your personal and your business’s life is on global view;
• The risks that you’re taking in violating the law somewhere in the world;
• How to establish and teach smarter ground rules to educate yourself and your employees at ALL levels;
• The seriousness of being non-compliant with policies and agreements of social media platforms.

Q:  What three takeaways do you feel are most important to leave organizations with, in order to help them better protect themselves in 2014?

1.   Know your organization’s obligations under all applicable data privacy and security laws globally, and integrate this information into your social media business strategy plan to manage the risk of a possible lawsuit.

2.   Be proactive in understanding the limitations and lack of control your organization has over the use of your proprietary and confidential information and how easily this information can be used to damage your brand and reputation. And, wherever possible, actively participate in improving privacy protections in the global digital marketplace.

3.   You have to be Smarter.  Do not  ignore social media policies and agreements or take anything or any statement in a social media platform’s policy or agreement at face value. Do your due diligence before you hit the send button.

Editor’s Note: The issues that Judith brings up within this post are very real and very serious. If you’re interested in learning more about these issues and how they risk affecting your organization (because they do), please don’t hesitate to reach out to myself or Judith.