California lawmakers have approved new legislation that would enable consumers to more easily refuse private data sharing and sales in internet browsers and mobile operating systems, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity site by Recorded Future.
Under the bill, all web browsers would be required to integrate an "opt-out preference signal" tool that would allow opt-out requests for all visited websites. Such a solution may be adopted by operating systems as a system setting, with opt-out requests delivered to all businesses interacted with by the consumer, according to Consumer Reports policy analyst Matt Schwartz. California's passage of the measure has been lauded by Schwartz, who is hopeful for similar bills to be introduced in other states to significantly disrupt the online advertising landscape. "If folks use it, [the new tool] could severely impact businesses that make their revenue from monetizing consumers' data. You could go from relatively small numbers of individuals taking advantage of this right now to potentially millions and that's going to have a big impact," Schwartz added.
