Two US senators have demanded the biggest internet companies to disclose the value of their users’ data.
The US senators Mark Warner and Josh Hawley proposed the major platforms to calculate the “economic value” of their data, which helps them generate revenue through targeted ads.
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.
“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.
“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. Even worse, tech companies do their best to hide how much consumer data is worth and to whom it is sold,” Hawley said.
Major platforms would have to report the “aggregate value” of all the user data they have collected in each quarter. Contracts with third-parties regarding any harvested user data would also need to be disclosed.
