I asked 100 companies for my data. Some deleted it instead.
Testing 100 companies found privacy requests often led to confusion and dead ends.
Testing 100 companies found privacy requests often led to confusion and dead ends.
The short version
- Under the California Consumer Privacy Act , I have the legal right to request access to information from large companies that collect personal data.
- So I was curious what others might have on me, and I spent the next week filing more than 100 requests.
- The CCPA went into effect in 2020, and three of its key provisions are the right to opt out of the selling of personal information, the right to delete that info, and the right to request a copy for yourself.
What happened
Consumer advocates I spoke with were upset with how these requests were handled. “That’s crazy,” said Ben Winters, director of AI and privacy at the Consumer Federation of America .
Why it matters
“That’s not an acceptable status quo.” Winters sees these examples as exhibiting the weaknesses of policy frameworks that rely on companies to act responsibly and in good faith.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Ars Technica via the links above and below.