Less than thirty years ago, the first smartphone was released to the public. In the time since that launch, American consumers have participated in a technological transformation that has fundamentally shifted our relationship to companies. Nearly all Americans own a personal device, and, as a result, nearly all Americans carry around a digital footprint. Individual data, financial information, and other identifying bits and pieces are scattered around the web, leaving a permanent, traceable trail. For the first time in history our personal information is available to an impossibly wide audience, including the companies that we interact with. This technological wave has led us into uncharted territory: the challenge of data privacy.
Every American consumer who uses apps or buys products online is likely familiar with clicking “I agree” when presented with the statement “I have read and understood the terms of privacy and use.” In reality, though, relatively few American consumers click that button in good faith. When it comes to listing terms of privacy, most companies do their legal duty and draw up an accurate contract of how they plan to use their customer’s data. These contacts, however, are often lengthy and written in complex legalese that the average consumer has neither the time or the background knowledge to fully read and understand. While companies are technically abiding by the law, writing inaccessible contracts ensures that most users have no idea how their data is shared, sold, and tracked by the company.
To make matters worse, there is no single, all-encompassing federal standard concerning data protection. A lack of firm guidelines was made clear last week when a company called ClearView AI revealed that their new app, which allows police officers to take a picture of any person to find out their name and identifying information. The app accomplishes this by tracking all of the photos of that individual on the internet. Many of the pictures are pulled off of social media sites that require users to agree to a privacy policy. Judging by the shock that the ClearView AI announcement generated, consumers were unaware that their personal photos were not protected from the company’s use despite having agreed to the contract.
The federal government bears a responsibility to protect its citizens, and that includes more carefully regulating the protection of consumer data. The first step in this process is creating a universal standard for writing user-friendly terms of use and privacy contracts. While a full legal version of the contract would remain available, companies would also provide a summary of the information in accessible language. When two parties enter into a contract, both deserve to fully understand what they are agreeing to. Rather than hiding behind legalese, privacy policies must be laid bare to allow consumers to make well-informed decisions. This accurate information is key to creating an empowered base of Americans who are best prepared to fight for fair data protection. Every consumer deserves privacy, and every consumer deserves to know when that privacy is at risk.
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