PCWorld: US concerns about online privacy present opportunity, experts say
CDT’s President, Nuala O’Connor, was interviewed regarding the results of a recent study showing that 8 out of 10 US adults believe they’ve lost control over how companies collect their personal data online.
While many people seem pessimistic about the direction of online privacy protections, several large Internet companies are beginning to take steps to give users more control and to provide more transparency about data collection, said Nuala O’Connor, president and CEO of digital rights group the Center for Democracy and Technology.
One of CDT’s goals is to develop more tools, both educational and technological, that help people protect their privacy online, she said. The Internet is still in its “early days” of figuring out what acceptable privacy rules and practices are, O’Connor added.
“There’s still a huge knowledge gap between the individual citizen and the companies and the government about what the rules are,” she said. “But people should not give up hope that we can’t solve this; we absolutely can solve it.”