Posted: | May 18, 2018 10:45 AM |
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From: | Representative Jason Dawkins |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Urging Congress to Enact Legislation Requiring Social Networking and Technology Companies to Pay Dividends to Users Whose Data Has Been Sold |
With billions of users worldwide, companies such as Facebook, Instagram, Google, and Twitter have made significant profits from the selling of their users’ personal data to third-party companies. Steps need to be taken to protect everyone’s information from being misused or sold for nefarious purposes. It is my belief that in addition to placing requirements on these companies to allow consumers to fully or partially opt-out of having their data utilized for any purpose, those who choose to allow such practices should receive a summary of what data has been sold as well as dividends for that data. As the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal has shown us, some social networking and technology companies have been operating unethically to monetize their users’ personal data. It is imperative that these companies be held accountable for their misdeeds and regulated by federal law. Therefore, in the near future I will be introducing a resolution urging the United States Congress to enact legislation with these goals in mind. Please join me in demanding that these social networking and technology companies respect the privacy of their users who trust them with their personal data by urging Congress to enact meaningful consumer protection laws and regulations. |