Author: Daniel Barber
Publisher: Forbes
Publication Year: 2022
Summary: The following article considers: Why is the United States one of the only countries without a comprehensive data privacy law? Congressional gridlock and the initiative of smaller actors like state legislatures and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are chief reasons. However, a bipartisan bill was proposed in June and is currently undergoing markups. The urgency comes from the overturn of the Roe v. Wade decision, since location tracking is a clear violation of individual privacy. Consumers are becoming more informed of what privacy concerns data introduces and how prevalent it is, due to success stories of the European Union (EU)’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Apple’s tracking transparency feature. Given the landscape where each state has its own framework, it becomes difficult for companies to continually enforce them all, giving them incentive to demand action. It is important not to simply clone the GDPR, however, because innovation could be seriously stunted from it. One solution is corporate accountability, such that employed by Google where users who have visited sensitive locations have those visits deleted from location history soon after departing. Trust is also crucial; if employees take good care of their data, and consumers feel compelled to trust the company, they open themselves up for 50% more revenue-generating opportunities than their peers. In essence, then, tech companies should stand for consumers rather than for their own special interests, because it really is more of a win-win than they realize.