Privacy Bill Could Put Dishonest Tech Execs Behind Bars

Privacy Bill Could Put Dishonest Tech Execs Behind Bars

A congressional privacy hawk wants to put the power of people’s personal data back into their own hands—and punish corporations that aren’t transparent about information collection with high fines and prison time. 


The Mind Your Own Business Act, introduced Thursday by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., grants the Federal Trade Commission resources and six new authorities to establish stricter protections that safeguard Americans’ data and impose tougher penalties against companies that lie about their data collection and use.


“[The bill] is based on three basic ideas,” Wyden said in a statement. “Consumers must be able to control their own private information, companies must provide vastly more transparency about how they use and share our data, and corporate executives need to be held personally responsible when they lie about protecting our personal information.”


The senator spent the last year engaging thought leaders and quietly crafting the legislation. A Wyden aide told Nextgov he was informed by experts from organizations including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, American Civil Liberties Union, and the Consumers Union, along with ex-FTC Chief Technologist Ashkan Soltani and Alastair Mactaggart from the International Association of Privacy Professionals, among others. In November, Wyden also sent around a discussion draft, which outlined the legislation’s aims to “create radical transparency into how corporations use and share their data.”


Specific entities are not named in the bill, but the senator indicated he’s likely targeting companies involved in recent data-collection scandals, including social media giant Facebook. In July the FTC instituted a $5 billion penalty against Facebook partially because it had ..

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