Biden attacks Big Tech's data addiction, wants more protection for kids

President Joe Biden in his State of the Union Speech on Tuesday evening called for the passage of legislation to stop technology companies from harvesting children's data and to generally limit broader information collection. "It's time to pass bipartisan legislation to stop Big Tech from collecting personal data on kids and …

[Anonymous Coward]

"can it be undone?"

"what can be done"

"woe is me"

Why bother endlessly repeating this phrase? In the same line of copy there could be a call to action instead and even if it does not in fact immediately fix the problem at least it's not digging the hole it represents one shovel full deeper.

This age of surprising mass inaction isn't just coincidentally an overlap with the age of rote use of defeatist language by the media. Your opponents in this fight aren't making the same mistakes. It's also clearly not the case that people these days won't or can't hit the streets pretty hard to force changes through. They do benefit from a helpful prod in the right direction. Give them the name an contact info of one opposing official to put in the hot seat and one that is in favor of reform they can support.

Don't question if it is even possible, especially when all it would take are phone calls and a few jerks on the small donor end campaign fund chain. The people who are sabotaging these reforms do so because they think they can get paid to do so without being called out on the issue. The majority are roundly lacking in any real backbone on both sides of the aisle.

It's not only possible, it's not even that complicated, but people tend to meet the expectations that are set for them, good or bad. How do we expect people to rise to these and the larger challenges that loom over us today.

[that one in the corner]

Please, stop making this about "the kids"

> The best way to protect our kids online is to protect everyone online

Absolutely. Direct and simple.

[Chet Mannly]

Re: Please, stop making this about "the kids"

100% Make it opt in only for everyone, no negative consequences for staying opt out and kids cannot opt in.

I'm not sure about the 'people aren't savvy enough to consent. The Apple experience shows that people are certainly savvy enough to not consent, surely it is up to FB et al to bridge the gap to convince people of the value of giving them information.

[lglethal]

"Old man yells at cloud, literally"

That Sub head... *Chef's Kiss*

Superb Work!

[M.V. Lipvig]

"What we find now definitively negates the idea that Americans feel that they can adequately understand and consent to marketers' data-gathering regime," the report says. "It also indicates that Americans do not have even the basic knowledge to benefit from such a regime. At this point in the development of the internet, individual consent is unworkable."

If this is indeed the case, then the solution is simple enough - companies are not allowed to snort information like cocaine anymore, period, and companies found to be doing so will find their leaders in prison. And not country club prison either, I'm talking Mississippi chaingang prison like where Bernie Ebbers of Worldcom fame was sent.

I am a firm believer that any law meant to curb corporate excess will either involve C-suite executives doing time with full forfeiture of assets involving the company, or will be completely ineffective as corps consider monetary fines to be the cost of doing business. Swing a clanging door in front if them, and they'll take it seriously. Icon, for are there no workhouses?