Most free apps and websites are paid for with data: what you click, buy, search for, and where you go. That data is used to target ads, set prices, and sometimes decide who sees which job or loan offer. The companies that hold the most of it have a head start that newcomers can’t easily match.
Where people land
The case for it: People should control information about themselves, and portability rules make it easier for new competitors to challenge dominant platforms.
The case against it: Strict rules can raise costs for small businesses, reduce free services funded by ads, and entrench the biggest companies, which can afford compliance. A patchwork of state laws is confusing for everyone.
The U.S. has no single national privacy law. California passed the first broad state law in 2018, and by 2025 around twenty states had their own, generally giving people the right to see, correct, and delete their data and to opt out of its sale. Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation goes further. Proposals here range from a single national standard to limits on targeted advertising, to “data portability” rules that let you take your information to a competing service.
What you can do
If you live in a state with a privacy law, you can ask companies what they hold on you and to delete it; many sites have a “Your privacy choices” link at the bottom. Browser and phone settings can limit tracking. Whether Congress should pass a national standard, and whether it should override stronger state laws, is a live question for your representatives.