“Many of these ‘privacy laws’ protect privacy in name only,” said Caitriona Fitzgerald, deputy director of EPIC. “In effect, they allow companies to continue hoarding our personal data and using it for whatever purposes they want. Big Tech should not be allowed to write the rules.”

Since 2018, 44 states have considered consumer privacy bills that purportedly aim to protect consumers’ privacy and security. Many of these bills, however, have been heavily influenced by companies such as Amazon, leading to significantly weakened consumer protections across the country. The U.S. currently has no comprehensive federal privacy law.

Tech companies’ harvesting of personal information including demographics and browsing and search history has attracted more attention in recent years. Over 80% of surveyed Americans are concerned how companies collect and use their data.

The more data that companies collect, and the more entities they disclose it to, the more likely it is that that consumers’ information will get exposed in a breach or a hack, making it more likely consumers will become the victim of identity theft or hyper-targeted scams.