Technology companies helping to fight the coronavirus are policing themselves to protect consumer data in the absence of a comprehensive U.S. statute and only a few state privacy laws.
The companies are taking voluntary steps based on Europe’s privacy law, such as restricting the types of data they collect and stating upfront their specific purpose for gathering information.
But without federal laws requiring such steps, consumers may doubt that companies will actually follow through and protect their data, said Neema Singh Guliani, senior legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union.
Such consumer distrust would complicate the challenge facing