LOS
ANGELES, July 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report
from Consumer Watchdog shows how thousands of companies share your
data with Facebook, including financial companies and health care
providers, and how a loophole in California's premier privacy law makes opting
out difficult and time consuming.
The report details how the big three web browsers do not offer a
global opt out signal to make companies halt the sale and sharing
of personal information easy, but pending legislation in
California will make the global
opt out signal mandatory.
"In order to exercise your rights and tell a business to stop
sharing or selling your data, you need to have the time and sanity
to visit thousands of websites," said Justin Kloczko, tech and
privacy advocate for Consumer Watchdog. "This is an access issue,
and we need better tools. The legislature must pass Assembly Bill
3048 (Lowenthal) and the governor should sign it."
Read the report, "No Opt Out," here.
Watch a consumer alert on the issue here.
The same tech companies that collect lots of data also own the
most popular web browsers—Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and
Microsoft Edge—but they don't let us tell all businesses our
privacy choices because it's not in their financial interest to do
so, said the nonprofit advocacy group.
Although businesses must accept a global opt out under the
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), most browsers don't offer
such a signal unless a plug-in is installed. Even then,
not all browsers accept it.
Using Facebook as an example, Kloczko tried to take control
of his data, but discovered how time-consuming and confusing opting
out can be. He learned Facebook knows about over 2,500 companies
that he's visited online, including his credit card company and
health insurer, since opening his account nearly 20 years ago. The
list also contains major data brokers like Experian and Live
Ramp that he didn't interact with directly.
"Data brokers keep a low profile but traffic in our most
personal details. They know what we eat, watch, read, and
purchase," said Kloczko.
And despite deactivating his Facebook account for a year,
meaning his account was not visible to other accounts, the sharing
between Facebook and companies Kloczko visited continued, said
the nonprofit. According to the data, Facebook and advertisers
still knew about 671 businesses Kloczko interacted with online,
including his health insurer, credit card company, and bank.
"If I want to put a stop to this data sharing, I must navigate a
confusing, seemingly endless labyrinth of privacy options obscured
in legalese," said Kloczko. "It's a tedious undertaking that
fatigues people from exercising their options."
Separately, it's not even clear that Facebook is complying with
the CCPA because even though Facebook says it does not share
or sell your data, advertisers still pay for access to it.
Recent polling says that while most Californians are
concerned about the sharing and selling of personal information,
they lack understanding of their privacy rights.
The good news is there is pending state legislation to
strengthen rights, as well as laws being implemented right now that
will make exercising privacy rights easier for Californians, said
the nonprofit.
If passed and signed by the governor, AB 3048 will make
California the first state in the
country to allow users to opt out in one step by requiring browsers
to offer a global opt-out preference signal that opts out of the
sale/sharing of personal information and its use for targeted
advertising.
And in 2026, Californians will be able to tell data brokers, who
collect data from other parties, to delete all personal information
in one step, thanks to an amendment to the CCPA called the
Delete Act, or Senate Bill 362 (Becker). Currently under the
law, data brokers are required to enter a state
registry and disclose if they collect information on
geolocation, minors, and health data.
The average person using the Internet spends almost seven hours
a day in front of a screen. That's roughly 17 years spent
checking the Internet. We check our phones on average of
144 times a day. This generates a lot of data. People are
surveilled as they book doctor appointments, shop for food,
and dial suicide hotlines. Our every search, scroll and tap is
monetized as part of a personal data industry that is worth
billions of dollars. Each person has about 3,000 data
points. And based on that data algorithms and artificial
intelligence are deciding jobs, health care, finances, down to the
very way we receive information.
"There has never been a greater need for a universal opt-out,"
said Kloczko. "By casting a privacy net over businesses,
Californians will be better equipped to protect their personal
information and fight discrimination."
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SOURCE Consumer Watchdog