America desperately needs new privacy laws
The Verge
February 22, 2026
AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary
The United States is facing a critical need for modern privacy laws to address the rapidly evolving tech landscape. Decades after early warnings about the risks of unregulated data collection, the nation’s outdated regulations are struggling to keep pace with the complexities of the digital age. This issue has become increasingly urgent as personal information becomes more central to daily life, from online interactions to healthcare and financial systems.
The roots of this problem trace back to 1973, when the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare published a report titled “Records, Computers, and the Rights of Citizens.” The report foresaw the rise of networked computers as a powerful tool for managing and storing personal data, raising early concerns about privacy rights in an emerging digital world. Despite these warnings, the legal framework to protect individuals has remained fragmented and inadequate, leaving consumers vulnerable to exploitation by tech companies.
Today, laws like COPPA and HIPAA provide limited protections but fall short of addressing the full scope of modern data collection practices. From targeted advertising to facial recognition technology, personal information is being used in ways that were unimaginable when these regulations were first established. The lack of comprehensive privacy laws has allowed for widespread data misuse, impacting everything from election integrity to healthcare outcomes.
The absence of robust privacy protections not only threatens individual rights but also undermines trust in technology. As consumers increasingly rely on digital services, the need for clear and enforceable privacy standards becomes more critical. Without meaningful reforms, the U.S. risks falling further behind global leaders in privacy regulation, putting American citizens at a disadvantage in an interconnected world.
This issue matters deeply to anyone who values personal freedom and security in the digital age. The push for new privacy laws is not just about protecting data—it’s about ensuring that technological progress doesn
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Originally published on The Verge on 2/22/2026