New privacy bill would put major limits on targeted advertising

A new bill seeks to change the landscape of online advertising to the disadvantage of companies like Facebook, which use deep stores of personal information to make money from targeted ads.

The bill, which was introduced in the House and the Senate, would limit the ways in which tech companies serve ads.

The bill would not allow targeting based on protected class information, such as race, gender, and religion, and personal data purchased from data brokers. Platforms could still target ads based on location data at the city or state level, as well as contextual advertising based on the content a user is interacting with.

The FTC and state attorneys general would be able to enforce violations with fines of up to $5,000 per incident for knowing violations.

The business model of snooping is based on the collection and use of personal data to target ads. This practice allows online platforms to chase user engagement at a great cost to our society, and it fuels discrimination, voter suppression, privacy abuses, and so many other harms.

I introduced the banning surveilling advertising act today. Advertisers will be forced to stop exploiting online behavior for profits if this act is passed.
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The senator wrote "January 19, 2022."

Sen. Booker said that the targeted advertising model makes it easier for people to spread misinformation on social media platforms.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), the Anti-Defamation League, Accountable Tech and Common Sense Media supported the legislation.

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