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VThis past month marked the one-year anniversary of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union. GDPR allows more control over the data being accessed by advertisers and other businesses online, and gives consumers the right to protect their privacy. As a result, Americans have been wondering where our regulation is.

A recent nCipher survey showed that over 60% of Americans feel those who access their data are not totally transparent. Conversely, over 50% said that protecting their personal information is one of their top priorities.

The good news is that change is coming. Senator Josh Hawley proposed a bill that will allow consumers to do what they should already be doing: protecting their privacy. However, the bad news is that this poses a threat to social media platforms and the digital ad market on Facebook and Google.

Facebook makes around 90% of its revenue from digital advertising. These ads are carefully targeted at users based on data and usage of the platform. Similarly, Google collects data from our search history, location and other user data that allows ad targeting to consumers. Nevertheless, many are totally unaware that they can manage their privacy settings within these platforms.

We as consumers have a right to protect our data. Click here if you want to know more.