• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, July 3, 2018

With the Fourth Of July upon us, we may want to reflect on the blessings of living in the U.S. Here's one: We are not yet saddled with a national law like the GDPR. 

It’s one thing to protect consumer privacy, it’s another to carry it to ludicrous levels. The Financial Times wonders if untidy desks may be a GDPR risk. It advises: “Lock away notebooks and business cards to avoid data breaches.”

Mondaq observes that “photos (and films) may also contain personal data,” making them subject to coverage by the GDPR. Better lock up those beach photos. 

Finally, as reported yesterday, the European Court of Justice said it will stop identifying people involved in legal cases. Instead, it will use their initials in documents related to future preliminary rulings.  

Each one of these possibilities is outlandish. Take the one about cleaning your desk off at night. You wouldn’t want the wrong person to get access to a business card that was handed out with hundreds of others at a trade event.

But how can any regulatory body enforce regulations on that level? Who will pay the tab for privacy detectives to run down people with messy desks?

The ban on identifying litigants is more than a rumor. And, if imposed here, it would interfere with our First Amendment.

Court records are public documents in this country, and it follows that the parties to a case must be identified. We don’t have Sub Judica laws.

Daniel Lyons argues on the American Enterprise Institute site that the GDPR “may have the same effect for the European tech sector that Trump hopes tariffs will have for American manufacturers: making space for domestic production by raising costs on foreign businesses."

Never thought of it that way.

Here’s one more advisory: The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) reports that Noble Design and Build failed to comply with an information notice and it failed to register with the ICO: a criminal offense.

The fines for both came to only £4,500 — not that bad. Still, who wants to be branded as a criminal?

Better answer any notices you get — promptly.