Our Digital Privacy Has Been Compromised: It’s Time We Fought to Take It Back

President and CEO of IDX, Tom Kelly's latest opinion piece for Morning Consult discusses the compromises of digital privacy and how it’s time for consumers to fight to take theirs back.

Kelly divulges how personal information is often bought and sold online to the highest bidders and how this affects our digital security. He also discusses the dangers of tech companies not taking the steps needed to propose meaningful privacy-protecting restrictions, which is important in monitoring our data.

Americans have increasingly become more self-aware of their digital “health” and with little to no protection, it's imperative that laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) are put into place to protect consumers. Legal regulations are an imperative step towards helping protect consumer’s data privacy.

Kelly also cited a Pew Research study from November 2019 that found over 80 percent of Americans feel they have little or no control over their personal information online. With continued feelings of insecurity and threat, Kelly discusses how big tech companies have gained solid power in this space and how their business models are built around data exploitation.

He deeply urges Congress and the Justice Department to take action against digital privacy and create effective digital privacy protections that benefit consumers to reclaim their data, control who can see it, and demand it be protected by businesses.

In the meantime, Kelly believes it’s up to individuals to take control of their digital privacy and feel with the IDX Privacy product. He hopes Congress will take action soon and encourages us all to make our voices heard in the fight against digital privacy and cybercrime.