By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 23/07/2026Why do data brokers exist? Because we let them. Congress hasn't passed a new federal consumer privacy law since 1988, when they made it illegal for video stores to disclose your VHS rentals. All other acts of consumer surveillance are legal. 3/ 1336
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 23/07/2026 Data brokers spy on us for the same reason your dog licks its balls: because they can, and we don't stop them: pluralistic.net/2026/03/10/i... Getting rid of data brokers wouldn't solve *all* our problems, but it sure would go a long way to solving *many* of them. 4/ 1277
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 23/07/2026Rather than legally requiring platforms to spy on kids (to exclude them from being targeted by platforms' algorithms), we could prohibit platforms from spying on *anyone*, including kids, meaning kids couldn't be identified (much less targeted) by algorithms: pluralistic.net/2026/06/23/d... 5/pluralistic.netPluralistic: Spying on kids to save kids from spying is very, very stupid (23 Jun 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow 37633
