Data law

by John Bandler

Data law is law about data, such as data breach notification laws, cybersecurity laws, and privacy laws. It is the newest part of cyberlaw, laws enacted specifically to protect data.

Terms mean different things to different people, this is what data law means to me.

What is data law?

Data law is the merging of two words, "data" and "law".

It is the law around data, or that portion of cyberlaw created specifically to deal with our newer issues with data, to include laws for privacy, cybersecurity, and data breach notification.

What is law?

Law is a system of rules put forth by the government. It includes the federal and state constitutions, statutes that are created through the legislative process, regulations but forth through the regulatory process, and decisions by judges (precedent) that interpret the laws.

Even broader than these laws and regulations are various rules for society and individuals, which I discuss in another article.

Cyberlaw is built on a foundation of traditional law

Cyberlaw is built upon a foundation of traditional law which includes three important categories, such as:

Criminal law
- Includes cybercrime and investigating and collecting digital evidence
Negligence law
Contract law

Then we can flesh this list out a more to include every other area of "traditional law".

Cyberlaw includes data law (cybersecurity and privacy law)

Cybersecurity and privacy law 2023-7 (1)

Cybersecurity and privacy law comes from different places, and I depict that here.

Then there are laws specific to "cyber", enacted to deal with the new challenges of the internet and all that happens online. This includes specific laws and regulations about:

Cybercrime
Collecting digital evidence
Data disposal (e.g. to securely dispose of data)
Data breach notification
Cybersecurity
Privacy.

I think of "data law" as the four areas of:

Data disposal
Data breach notification
Cybersecurity
Privacy.

Why data law?

Existing law was not sufficient to deal with all the issues we encounter now that data and cyber is everywhere. So these new laws were created.

Is there more to know about data law?

Yes, I cover it in part 6 of my book on cyberlaw . Before we cover "data law", we cover traditional law and how it applies to cyberspace.

If you can't wait for the book, or don't want to purchase the book, I have lots of resources on my site here, and you can start with my Cyberlaw book resources page. Resources and Links for the book Cyberlaw: Law for Digital Spaces and Information Systems, by John Bandler