State Bills Aren’t Enough: The Case for National Legislation on Data Privacy and Civil Rights

Amanda Beckham is the government relations manager for Free Press Action.  Shutterstock The breadth of data private companies have access to — about all of us — is virtually limitless. These entities know where you went to school, what religion you practice, your medical history, your political opinions — even what your family life is like. These are concrete data points that are easily accessible from search engines and social media. And there are many other kinds of information companies collect about our behavior online. We are constantly generating data that reveal all of the above and much more about ourselves — and most of the time, we do this willingly for the convenience that many applications offer. The problem is that we don’t know what happens to this information once it’s created — or who has access to it. And all of this data, when aggregated, represents the power to influence, manipulate and discriminate. Demographic and behavioral data that platforms collect could fall into the hands of advertisers that want to serve up fairly benign targeted ads. Or it could fall instead into the hands of those who wish to undermine our democratic processes by sowing mistrust in our institutions — or who routinely discriminate against people in digital markets. Years of research, investigative journalism, activism, and whistleblower revelations have shown the harms caused by the companies collecting and misusing all of this data. On Facebook, for example, bad actors have exploited demographic data to discourage Latinx individuals from…State Bills Aren’t Enough: The Case for National Legislation on Data Privacy and Civil Rights