It Would Have Taken More Than Privacy Laws to Prevent the Cambridge Analytica Scandal

In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, many privacy advocates see a golden opportunity to finally achieve their decades-long quest for the United States to follow in Europe’s footsteps by enacting strict privacy legislation. But as ITIF’s Daniel Castro writes for The Hill, privacy rules like those in Europe probably would not have prevented the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Instead, they would have stymied the U.S. digital economy and hurt consumers. Policymakers should not overreact to an incident of foreign interference in U.S. elections by allowing Europe’s anti-innovation privacy laws to gain a toehold on U.S. soil.