Privacy

Join ITIF's Center for Data Innovation to discuss the potential benefits and costs of end-to-end encryption and what law enforcement access to user data could look like in the future.

With five state privacy laws coming into effect this year and 19 states actively considering new bills, the future of American privacy could end up as an expensive patchwork of 50 or more different laws, where an individual’s privacy rights vary depending on where they live.

In recent weeks, lawmakers have introduced legislation to ban or heavily restrict teenagers’ use of social media. But these bills will not keep teenagers safe from online harm, and they will severely stifle the development of the metaverse—an emerging immersive digital space that offers new opportunities for learning, working, and socializing.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed a bill into law that will require minors to obtain parental consent to use social media. Social media platforms will have to verify the ages of all users in Utah and restrict access to anyone under the age of 18 without their parents’ permission. This will require all Utahns, not just those under 18, to give up their personal information as a condition of using social media, violating everyone’s privacy in the name of protecting children.

Smart city technology could modernize local government services and improve residents’ quality of life. To reap these benefits and maintain public trust, cities and communities need to balance the interests of innovation and privacy.

The federal government should consider the unintended consequences for the communities it aims to protect with privacy regulation.

As Congress continues to debate federal data privacy legislation, it is important that it understands how online advertising works, so as not to unintentionally harm the Internet ecosystem.

If a new federal data privacy law includes a broad private right of action that allows for class action lawsuits, these lawsuits would likely play out very similarly to the Equifax case.

Watch the discussion about the progress Congress has made in crafting bipartisan privacy legislation, the ADPPA’s current legislative status, and the remaining areas of debate regarding the legislation.

Louisiana’s new age verification law, which requires websites that host “material harmful to children” to verify the age of their users, should raise red flags for those concerned about safety and speech online. Allowing one state to dictate online rules will likely lead to 50 different standards, creating a byzantine patchwork of digital rules for businesses and consumers.