The Privacy Paradox and Personal Data Regulation in the Context of Rising Surveillance Capitalism

Abstract

The Russian legislator considers personal data subjects as rational agents when they make decisions regarding their privacy. However, the real behavior of individuals (i.e., social reality) shows that this is not the case. The privacy paradox and other features of subjects’ decision-making process that affect their personal data play a key role in providing a new paradigm for legal regulation of personal data. This paper describes the concept of the privacy paradox and confirms the existence of the problem of mismatch between the current Russian legislation and real social practices in the field of privacy in the conditions of digital transformation and the formation of a surveillance society. The author proposes a number of steps to start a transitional period in the legal regulation of personal data, namely those aimed to simplify the informed consent procedure and to increase the general awareness of data subjects about their personal data and legislation.