Dirty Money and Out-of-touch Lawmakers

Why the US is behind the curve on Data Privacy

by Ashby Hayes

Facebook made 86 Billion dollars last year. The vast majority of that came from selling targeted advertising. Exploiting user data for massive revenue. Google, Amazon, and hundreds of other companies are doing the exact same thing and most people have no idea. Many countries have begun to pass Data Privacy laws that give people ownership of their data.

According to Gartner, 65% of countries will have data privacy regulations enacted into law by 2023.

The United States has yet to propose a federal law. Why? Two reasons. Dirty money and out-of-touch lawmakers.

Big Tech is giving big to lobbyists and candidates

Instead of enacting new laws and regulations limiting the power of tech companies, many lawmakers are influenced to stay silent or even vote against regulations because they are swayed by money from Big Tech.

Lawmakers don’t understand technology

In reality, many politicians don’t actually know what to do about the intrusive dangers of tech companies, because they don’t understand how tech works. This has been on display in many of the congressional hearings over the past few years.

Data Justice is Bi-partisan

Over the past few years Republicans and Democrats have proposed several versions of Data Privacy legislation. Both parties want to give people more rights over their data but these proposals have failed over and over. We need a Data Justice movement to inspire lawmakers to educate themselves and ignore the influence of lobbyists and campaign contributions and pass federal legislation.

January 2021 brought a previous proposal from Democrats to ensure Data Privacy in light of the pandemic and the widespread need to use data to help address public health issues. But this proposal isn’t getting the attention it needs and may not pass.

Get involved in the Data Justice movement and learn more about protecting your rights and your data.