Forcing changes to data collection practices will take time and determination — nonetheless, it’s a problem worth fighting for
The Avast team has always been interested in learning about recent proposals Introduced by U.S. House of Representatives politicians calling for an end to targeted advertising, known as surveillance advertising.We made the same suggestion in a meeting last year previous blog post. This will prevent advertisers from delivering targeted ads to users, so many consumers will no longer feel like they are being watched while browsing online.
There are some exceptions to this – for example, if you’re reading a site about canoes, you might see ads for buying canoes, paddles, etc. However, you’ll only see these ads on the site where you read the canoe, so they won’t follow you to Facebook or other sites.
The rationale for this legislation is that by currently allowing surveillance of advertising, we are incentivizing companies to collect and hoard information about their consumers and potential consumers to enable them to run targeted ads, which companies would undercut if banned. One of the problems with companies collecting data on people is that these companies are often breached, with sensitive consumer data leaked online. This practice can also lead to privacy abuse and discrimination. This will lead to dramatic changes in the business models of big tech companies like Alphabet (Google) and Meta (Facebook). While current legislation shields tech companies from liability, the proposed legislation would allow individuals to sue them for up to $5,000 per violation.
It remains to be seen whether the proposal will pass into law. Tech companies, which spend millions of dollars lobbying politicians, will no doubt try to shape the proposed legislation to make it more favorable to them, or kill it outright.
In my opinion, this is unlikely to pass, despite the growing need to rein in these companies through tighter regulation. Like regulations for Big Tobacco and the fossil fuel industries, it can take a lot of time and effort before serious legislation is passed and implemented.
One facebook whistleblower More scrutiny of Meta and how it prioritizes generating profits over user welfare.the alphabet is Recently sued The U.S. Department of Justice gives preferential treatment to its search algorithms. We hope this momentum continues and politicians push meaningful legislation to regulate these companies because they have such a big impact on our lives.
What can you do as an individual to help pass meaningful legislation?
First, let your elected officials know that you support regulation of Big Tech. You can also directly let the company know that you do not consent to their collection of large amounts of personal data and avoid doing business with known bad actors. It also involves becoming a more educated consumer about a company’s data collection practices, which are often unclear.Fortunately, there are EFF Focus on these types of questions.
It will take a lot of time and determination to force these companies to change because their current business models have become very lucrative. Still, it’s certainly worth fighting for.
Further reading:
Updates to Data Privacy and Protection Legislation
Garry Kasparov and Ondrej Vlcek talk about taking back control of the internet
Avast is committed to protecting digital freedom for all
