Data Privacy

 Before this semester, I did not put enough thought into the importance of data privacy as I probably should have. I remember telling myself after a contracts class discussing terms and conditions that I should probably pay more mind to terms of use or terms and conditions I often silently agree to. Yet, I am still guilty of paying little attention to what I am allowing websites, applications, and companies to do with my information. 

 

A reason - besides my unwillingness to sift through terns of use - I think should get some credit is the opt-out data policies and principles, some states are starting to move away from. Opt-out allows websites to automatically start using your data when you arrive to their page. Or it will ask if you want to opt out of something before you can use their page. This method tends to lack getting explicit consent and returns a higher success rate of acceptance to the terms of use. I came across this article about Chinese hackers hacking Microsoft and accessing the email accounts of various U.S. officials (https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/02/tech/us-government-microsoft-hack/index.html ). It made me worried knowing so many peoples data could be at risk when companies and websites are susceptible to hacks like this. It got me looking into the data privacy laws states currently have and was happy to find that more and more states are improving their data privacy laws. Luckily, more states are enacting laws to give consumers more freedom of choice over how companies use there data. (https://pro.bloomberglaw.com/insights/privacy/state-privacy-legislation-tracker/#:~:text=Currently%2C%20there%20are%2015%20states,data%20privacy%20laws%20in%20place.)