The time for talk is over — i’s time for action on data privacy

Members of Congress have spent an enormous amount of time recently talking about online data privacy, highlighted by the House’s five-hour grilling session of TikTok’s CEO in March and subsequent calls for banning the social media platform in the United States. But instead of generating headlines for themselves by talking tough to Big Tech companies, lawmakers should focus on actual solutions for protecting consumers, such as legislation that has languished in Congress that could rein in the biggest abusers of data privacy.

Congress is certainly right: From TikTok to Amazon, Big Tech represents an imminent threat to Americans’ privacy — which is why it needs to get serious about taking action on bipartisan bills currently sitting on the table. There is, for example, the 2021 Social Media Privacy Protection and Consumer Rights Act, which would force websites to give users more control over their data and provide them the opportunity to reject data tracking and collection. Or there’s the 2022 American Data Privacy and Protection Act, which proposed a national standard for how companies can collect and use people’s data.

For each day these bills sit dormant, tech companies remain hard at work expanding their reach into our personal data. Take, for instance, Amazon’s recent acquisition of One Medical, which has raised fears among privacy experts that the tech behemoth will soon have unfettered access to millions of Americans’ medical records and other sensitive data. Or, the impending Federal Trade Commission case against the company for alleged privacy violations tied to the use of children’s data with the Alexa voice assistant.

Amazon’s lax approach to data security poses the greatest threat to Americans’ privacy. Today, the company has grown into a colossal data collector, allowing it to access troves of consumer and seller data. And while Google and Twitter may harvest the most consumer data, Amazon doesn’t fall far behind, and outpaces Facebook when it comes to intrusiveness.

The issue isn’t just whether Big Tech can simply mine personal data, but rather its ability to monetize said data. Even worse is if the data is left unguarded and falls into the wrong hands. The added convenience offered by these companies may seem alluring, but unwary consumers handing over their digital identities should be worried.

Amazon’s broad privacy policy allows the tech giant to collect information you provide, the data it already collects automatically, and information from other sources. Like other Big Tech companies, Amazon’s advertising network allows advertisers to use customer data for targeting. But Amazon’s data sharing processes across its various business units exist in a grey area, opening the door, for instance, for an Alexa user to see targeted advertisements on the company’s e-commerce site.

This may already be the reality. According to a recent study, Amazon harvests voice data from Echo devices to serve pointed ads on its own platforms and on the web, sharing your data with as many as 41 advertising partners. The company, which has a burgeoning advertising business and overshadows the $113 billion smart home market, is expected to emerge as a “winner” in the digital ads space due to its massive customer shopping database. Amazon hasn’t been forced to rely on tracking info provided by Apple’s mobile operating system, making it a more effective entity than other technology firms.

Additionally, consumers have expressed concern over the technology used in Amazon Go stores, where cameras and technology replace cashiers. A new lawsuit claims the stores in New York City illegally collect customer data, including a person’s size and shape, without their knowledge.

With Big Tech companies able to access our digital identities at any given moment, one would expect them to have robust data safeguards in place. But this is not the case. Amazon whistleblowers have warned about the company’s lax approach to data security, speaking out about how its security shortcomings may expose sensitive information in data breaches or theft.

Large tech companies are only going to continue exploiting our information for their gain — and never cared much about protecting this data to begin with. Rather than talking tough in hearings, Congress must take real action now by catalyzing the legislation already in motion to protect all American consumers.

José A. Marquez-Leon is national president and CEO of TechLatino: Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology Association (LISTA).