Final answer:
U.S. laws such as HIPAA and COPPA, along with Constitutional protections, outline the measures the government must take in safeguarding PII, balancing these requirements against public safety and national security concerns. The EU GDPR provides more extensive protections for data privacy within Europe.
Step-by-step explanation:
The law requires governments to take multiple steps to safeguard Personally Identifiable Information (PII). In the U.S., laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) set the standards for how different types of personal information must be protected. The government must balance the need for data privacy with its duty to protect national security and public safety.
Furthermore, the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment provides a citizen's right to privacy concerning 'houses, papers, and effects', which many argue extends to digital data. The necessity of warrants and probable cause is a legal boundary that government agencies must navigate to access an individual's cyber information. This issue continues to present a debate between privacy rights and security measures.
In comparison, European law through the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) implements stricter protections for data privacy, requiring that personal data only be gathered or processed under specific, tightly controlled scenarios. This regulation applies to private businesses and government agencies alike, providing comprehensive protection to individuals' personal data.