25th June 2019

For years, social media companies have told consumers that their products are free to the user. But that's not true — you are paying with your data,' says US Senator Mark Warner

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By PC Mag

PC Mag - Two US senators are demanding the biggest internet companies disclose how much your collected personal data is worth.

The bipartisan legislation from US senators Mark Warner (D-Virginia) and Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) proposes requiring the major platforms to calculate the "economic value" of your data, which helps them generate revenue through targeted ads.

"For years, social media companies have told consumers that their products are free to the user. But that's not true — you are paying with your data instead of your wallet," Warner said in a statement.

The bill would require the major platforms to update your data's worth at least every three months. It would also force the companies to disclose the types of data collected, whether any of it went to a third-party, and give users the ability to delete the harvested information.

The legislation's goal is to create more transparency over the tech industry's data collection practices, which have come under fire for often violating consumers' digital privacy. "These 'free' products track everything we do so tech companies can sell our information to the highest bidder and use it to target us with creepy ads," Hawley said in a statement. "Even worse, tech companies do their best to hide how much consumer data is worth and to whom it is sold."

The same bill is designed to help financial regulators, such as the Federal Trade Commission, pinpoint unfair practices. Major platforms would have to report the "aggregate value" of all the user data they've collected each quarter. Contracts with third-parties regarding any harvested user data would also need to be disclosed.

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