New 'Mind You Own Business' bill would authorize the Federal Trade Commission to regulate digital privacy and fine companies for violations
- The bill was introduced by Oregon senator Ron Wyden
- Online companies would face fines of four percent of their annual revenue
- A new minimum standard for privacy protections would become mandatory
The Consumer Data Protection Act, more commonly known as the 'Mind Your Own Business Act,' would amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to authorize the creation of new authorities to regulate and punish online companies for privacy violations.
The bill, introduced by Oregon senator Ron Wyden, would establish minimum standards for privacy and data protection that every online business would have to meet.
Companies that violate those standards would face fines of up to 4 percent of their annual revenue for a first violation, according to a report by The Verge.
Oregon senator Ron Wyden (pictured above) introduced the 'Mind Your Own Business' bill into the senate on Thursday
For comparison, Facebook's recent settlement with the FTC for privacy violations required the company to pay a penalty of $5 billion.
That is the equivalent of a little less than 10 percent of the $55.8 billion in revenue the company generated in 2018.
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'Consumers must be able to control their own private information, companies must provide vastly more transparency about how they use and share our data,' Wyden said in a statement released along with the text of the bill.
'Corporate executives need to be held personally responsible when they lie about protecting our personal information.'
The bill comes after a number of high profile privacy breaches, including Equifax, Yahoo, Facebook, and most recently Capital One, where an employee allegedly exposed the data of over 106 million customer.
The bill would also define standards for a Do Not Track option that would create uniform opt-out options for data tracking.
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joe Simon (pictured above) would have expanded authority to fine tech companies for violating user privacy
Online companies would also be required to offer a version of their services with additional privacy supports for a fee, something that would theoretically help with the costs of the new requirements.
Earlier this year, tech investor Joe Borthwick warned that the popularity of networked smart assistants would lead to major privacy breaches in the future.
'From a consumer standpoint, user standpoint, is that these, these devices are being used for what's — it's hard to call it anything but surveillance,' the venture capitalist told Yahoo.
Under Mark Zuckerberg (pictured above), Facebook was fined $5 billion by the FTC for privacy violations
Borthwick was especially worried about the networked abilities of smart devices.
'I think that we've sort of tripped over a line, which many people are now calling surveillance and I think is wrong,' he said.
FACEBOOK'S PRIVACY DISASTERS
April 2020: Facebook hackers leaked phone numbers and personal data from 553 million users online.
July 2019: Facebook data scandal: Social network is fined $5billion over 'inappropriate' sharing of users' personal information
March 2019: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised to rebuild based on six 'privacy-focused' principles:
- Private interactions
- Encryption
- Reducing permanence
- Safety
- Interoperability
- Secure data storage
Zuckerberg promised end-to-end encryption for all of its messaging services, which will be combined in a way that allows users to communicate across WhatsApp, Instagram Direct, and Facebook Messenger.
December 2018: Facebook comes under fire after a bombshell report discovered the firm allowed over 150 companies, including Netflix, Spotify and Bing, to access unprecedented amounts of user data, such as private messages.
Some of these 'partners' had the ability to read, write, and delete Facebook users' private messages and to see all participants on a thread.
It also allowed Microsoft's search engine, known as Bing, to see the name of all Facebook users' friends without their consent.
Amazon was allowed to obtain users' names and contact information through their friends, and Yahoo could view streams of friends' posts.
September 2018: Facebook disclosed that it had been hit by its worst ever data breach, affecting 50 million users - including those of Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg.
Attackers exploited the site's 'View As' feature, which lets people see what their profiles look like to other users.
Facebook (file image) made headlines in March 2018 after the data of 87 million users was improperly accessed by Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy
The unknown attackers took advantage of a feature in the code called 'Access Tokens,' to take over people's accounts, potentially giving hackers access to private messages, photos and posts - although Facebook said there was no evidence that had been done.
The hackers also tried to harvest people's private information, including name, sex and hometown, from Facebook's systems.
Zuckerberg assured users that passwords and credit card information was not accessed.
As a result of the breach, the firm logged roughly 90 million people out of their accounts as a security measure.
March 2018: Facebook made headlines after the data of 87 million users was improperly accessed by Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy.
The disclosure has prompted government inquiries into the company's privacy practices across the world, and fueled a '#deleteFacebook' movement among consumers.
Communications firm Cambridge Analytica had offices in London, New York, Washington, as well as Brazil and Malaysia.
The company boasts it can 'find your voters and move them to action' through data-driven campaigns and a team that includes data scientists and behavioural psychologists.
'Within the United States alone, we have played a pivotal role in winning presidential races as well as congressional and state elections,' with data on more than 230 million American voters, Cambridge Analytica claimed on its website.
The company profited from a feature that meant apps could ask for permission to access your own data as well as the data of all your Facebook friends.
The data firm suspended its chief executive, Alexander Nix (pictured), after recordings emerged of him making a series of controversial claims, including boasts that Cambridge Analytica had a pivotal role in the election of Donald Trump
This meant the company was able to mine the information of 87 million Facebook users even though just 270,000 people gave them permission to do so.
This was designed to help them create software that can predict and influence voters' choices at the ballot box.
The data firm suspended its chief executive, Alexander Nix, after recordings emerged of him making a series of controversial claims, including boasts that Cambridge Analytica had a pivotal role in the election of Donald Trump.
This information is said to have been used to help the Brexit campaign in the UK.
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