Privacy Protection and the Property in Personal Data: An Appraisal of Human Rights Intricacies

Abstract

“Aware of it or not, we are all heirs to potent Enlightenment ideas in matters relating to control.
If knowledge is good, and informed action is preferable to the alternative, why shouldn’t we expect
institutions of all kinds to maximize their grip on the lives of those they deal with? If government
and private organisations are pursuing what are publicly recognised as legitimate ends, why
shouldn’t they do so as efficiently as possible?”764The protection of an individual’s privacy has
formed part of the fundamental rights recognized internationally. However, the wave of digital
age which brings along the influx of technology and exchange of information now constitute an
essential part of our daily living as humans. Key pieces of information that are commonly stored
by businesses, be that employee records, customer details, loyalty schemes, transactions, or data
collection, now need to be protected. This is to prevent that information from being misused by
third parties for fraud, such as phishing scams and identity theft. Also, personal data as an
information are being obtained, processed, collate and stored by government agencies, business
organizations, non-governmental organizations for their legitimately recognized transaction with
the data subject, and the issue of control over this information being juxtaposed with the right of
the individual who are the (data subject) over the information. This work appraises the protection
of individual privacy and the scope of the rights an individual has over the personal data. Adopting
the doctrinal method of research which involves gathering of information from materials useful to
this work, it is discovered that the scope an individual’s right over their personal is limited. It
therefore recommends for improvement in our privacy laws and an expansion of rights over
personal data to facilitate data subject’s ownership of personal data which will afford full
protection and control of personal data.