Forbes has an interesting article on The Hidden Cost of Privacy which suggests that the costs of complying with privacy laws outweigh the benefits gained. Bruce Schneier has a good counterpoint here: The "hidden cost" of privacy and suggests the following points:
- Broad privacy regulations are better than narrow ones.
- Simple and clear regulations are better than complex and confusing ones.
- It's far better to regulate results than methodology.
- Penalties for bad behavior need to be expensive enough to make good behavior the rational choice.
