Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2021

Abstract

Is privacy a luxury for the rich world? Remarkably, there is a dearth of literature evaluating whether data privacy is too costly for companies to implement, or too expensive for governments to enforce. This paper is the first to offer a review of surveys of costs of compliance, and to summarize national budgets for enforcement. The study shows that while privacy may indeed prove costly for companies to implement, it is not too costly for governments to enforce. This study will help inform governments as they fashion and implement privacy laws to address the “privacy enforcement gap”—the disparity between the privacy on the books, and the privacy on the ground.

Publication Citation

Policy Research Working Paper 9594. World Bank’s World Development Report 2021 Team in collaboration with the Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment Global Practice.

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