Abstract
Companies have too much control over people’s information. In the data marketplace, companies package and sell individuals’ data, and these individuals have little to no bargaining power over the process. Companies may freely buy and sell people’s data in the private sector for targeted marketing and behavior manipulation. In the justice system, an unchecked data marketplace leaves black and brown communities vulnerable to serious data access issues caused by predictive sentencing, for example. Risk assessment algorithms in predictive sentencing rely on data on individuals and run all relevant data points to provide the likelihood that a defendant will recidivate low risk, medium risk, or high risk. These algorithms are flawed and deeply biased because they use factors that correlate with race and socioeconomic status. The law should recognize people’s property interests in their data. Recognizing individuals’ property interests in their data sets up a robust disclosure-based solution. The disclosure-based solution gives individuals substantial control over their data. The Note proposes a centralized platform—the Private Information Reporting System—for individuals to know where their data is used and restrict companies from selling it. This will result in more power for individuals and equity in the justice system.
Recommended Citation
Francis Morency,
Do Not Touch My Data: Exploring a Disclosure-Based Framework to Address Data Access,
29 Wash. & Lee J. Civ. Rts. & Soc. Just. 149
(2023).
Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/crsj/vol29/iss4/7
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