Pragmatic Online Privacy: the SftE Approach

This position paper presents and proposes new requirements for Privacy and Data Protection. We first raise misalignments of current Privacy regulations and argue that current regulatory approaches do not benefit individuals as much as expected to the point that it primarily shields large organisations from ethical management of personal data. From this assessment, we propose the Start-from-the-End (SftE, pronounced “soft”) approach to online Privacy. It puts the focus on the later stages of the lifecycle of Personal Data (such as the Right to Erasure), while removing focus from the points of collection of personal data. The ultimate goal is to reclaim straightforward enforcement and re-empower individuals in a way that is meant to be feasible and practical.