News Analysis
White House and Department of Commerce representatives called for federal legislation to protect online user data on Monday, and said the Biden administration is committed to digital privacy. Since taking office, however, the administration has enacted policies that give the government greater access to private data.
Speaking at the “State of the Net” conference in Washington, D.C., White House Chief Technology Officer Alexander Macgillivray said a “litany of privacy horror stories” demonstrate the need for federal privacy law.
Examples of privacy infringements provided by Macgillivray included ad platforms targeting people with clinical depression and data brokers creating a subgroup for pregnant women, which he said “is especially worrisome given the attacks on reproductive rights we are seeing.”…