Privacy
As every sector of the global economy and nearly every facet of modern society undergo digital transformation, ITIF advocates for policies that spur not just the development of IT innovations, but more importantly their adoption and use throughout the economy. ITIF's work focuses on protecting people’s privacy and safeguarding personal information without stifling the innovation and commerce needed to drive a robust Internet ecosystem.
June 30, 2022
“Delete Your Period-Tracking Apps” Is a Distraction From the Real Online Privacy Debate
By stoking fears that law enforcement agencies could use health, search, and location data from mobile apps to prosecute women who illegally obtain abortions, anti-tech groups are distracting from real opportunities for bipartisan progress on privacy rights for Americans.
June 21, 2022
The Economics of Data, With David Deming
Rob and Jackie sat down with David Deming, the Academic Dean and a Professor of Political Economy at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Director of the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, to discuss the importance of data, data sharing, and ways to protect individual data privacy.
June 17, 2022
Three Bills Show Remaining Divisions in Attempt to Reach a Compromise on Federal Data Privacy Legislation
Congress’ top priority as it seeks to pass comprehensive data privacy legislation should be striking the right balance between protecting consumer privacy without overly complicating compliance or restricting productivity and innovation.
June 15, 2022
Children’s Privacy in Review: The Future of COPPA
Join ITIF for a panel discussion on whether and how the FTC or Congress should update COPPA to protect children’s privacy while increasing the quality and quantity of online services for children.
June 8, 2022
Comments to the UK House of Commons Public Bill Committee Regarding the UK Online Safety Bill
The UK’s Online Safety Bill fails to preserve users’ rights to legal free expression and privacy in the digital space and will actually exacerbate privacy and content moderation concerns online.
June 6, 2022
Review of the Proposed “American Data Privacy and Protection Act,” Part 2: The Good and The Bad
The drafters have included several poorly conceived compromises on state preemption and a private right of action that fail to meet the standards of what is needed in a federal data privacy law. But the bill does offer a comprehensive framework for data privacy that serves as a blueprint for federal legislation, and it is worth exploring the pros and cons of these other provisions.
June 6, 2022
Review of the Proposed “American Data Privacy and Protection Act,” Part 1: State Preemption and Private Right of Action
The release of a bipartisan draft bill is a welcome development after years of delays and discussion and is the most hopeful sign that Congress will finally address this issue. Unfortunately, the compromise text failed to adequately address the two most contentious issues in the debate about a federal privacy law: state preemption and a private right of action.
April 28, 2022
Lessons from Social Media for Creating a Safe Metaverse
While scrutiny of metaverse platforms is essential to ensure a safe, equitable, and inclusive environment, policymakers should be cautious of rushing to regulate the metaverse, such as by eroding intermediary liability protections or restricting the use of “algorithms” because allowing platforms the freedom to experiment and innovate will best position them to address new challenges.
April 1, 2022
Your Data Isn’t Gold; It’s Not Even Yours
“Defending Digital” Series, No. 4: Claims that Big Tech is making too much money off of “our data” are wrong in two fundamental ways: The data about most individuals isn’t worth very much—and when consumers use a business service, the resulting data isn’t “theirs.”
March 8, 2022