Democracy Dies in Darkness

This is the best privacy setting that almost no one is using

You have options to click one box to order companies not to blab your personal data. California might soon require it by law.

5 min
A lock in a fairy costume
(Illustration by Elena Lacey/The Washington Post)
By

Protecting your online privacy is way too hard. A proposed California law would give you a privacy fairy godmother to handle the dirty work.

If the governor signs the law by a Sept. 30 deadline, you’d be able to click a box in any web browser or in your phone’s settings to command companies not to blab your personal information.

States around the country are laboratories for how to give you meaningful power over your data. The proposed addition to California’s existing privacy laws isn’t perfect, but it is an intriguing model for simple, legally binding privacy controls.

I’ll explain how the California measure could work for state residents and many other Americans — and how to try a privacy fairy godmother right now.

A one-click box to flex your privacy powers

Without your true consent, when you buy a banana, brake hard in your car, download a fitness app or read news online, a company might pass on data about you to other businesses.

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