When those companies violate the public’s trust, the news travels fast — often on the platforms themselves — and people stop visiting the sites, causing them to lose revenue. Privacy advocates often point to European privacy rules as a model for the United States. Under those rules, the General Data Protection Regulation, companies that operate in Europe or handle European data are required to obtain consent before collecting data. And do we really want to emulate European rules if they undermine competitiveness? With the uncertainty over how to comply with those rules, entrepreneurs have looked to markets on other continents, strengthening big companies that can afford to pay big penalties for their privacy violations.

Source: New York Times May 24, 2019 00:58 UTC