Integrating FIPPs into Emerging Technologies: A Privacy Policy Perspective

In the era of constant technological flux, discussions about users' data privacy concerns and digital platform protection continue attracting different views. As digital platforms evolve globally, emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), Blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT) present significant challenges to privacy protection due to user data collection approaches. As a preventive measure, the Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPPs) serve as the basis for designing privacy policies and regulations for digital platforms that involve user data collection (Saniuk-Heinig, 2021). FIPPs comprised eight components, including data accountability and transparency for the ethical protection of personal information on digital platforms. However, the complexities in algorithm-enhanced digital platforms, especially social media, threaten traditional privacy measures and influence privacy risks and gaps in regulatory frameworks. This study thus explores the adoption of FIPPs in designing privacy policies for data protection by selected technology companies in the United States, focusing on their adequacies for cross-border data transfer. The study employs a mixed-method approach comprising comparative privacy policy analysis and content analysis of selected technology companies based on four principles of FIPPs for data privacy in the era of emerging technologies. Preliminary findings revealed the similarities across the selected technology companies regarding the complexity of privacy policies, limited user control, data sharing with third parties, and data accountability and security. Moreover, the study found different key differences in the privacy policies of the selected technology companies in compliance with the FIPP framework regarding the scope of data collection, advertising practices, data retention, and data sharing with third parties. The findings have implications for massive data collection with little user control, thereby influencing platform owners' concerns about privacy boundary assurance. Consequently, the study recommends the government's intervention in establishing independent privacy oversight bodies to ensure privacy policies are designed and implemented in compliance with relevant frameworks like FIPPs. The findings are relevant for narratives and scholarships on data privacy in a global context by providing policymakers with innovative approaches to data privacy management in an unstable global digital technology ecosystem.