How To Opt Out Of Data Sharing

It seems like every website these days wants our data. Cookies are one thing, but logging into account after account for everything adds up – and spreads your information around, including situations you may not want it to be in.

There’s good news, though. Thanks to legislation passed a few years ago and which recently went into effect, you can take steps to protect your information. The Connecticut Data Privacy Act, which was passed in 2022 and went into effect in 2023, allows residents to impose privacy standards on their information. Businesses with at least 100,000 consumers, or those with 25,000 or more who derive at least a quarter of their gross revenue from personal data sales, are beholden to the Act.

Under the law, this means businesses must provide users with notices regarding the personal data they accept and process, limit data collection to what’s reasonably necessary and use safeguards to secure personal data, among other standards. Consumers, meanwhile, can opt out of the sale and/or sharing of their data and request its deletion from databases.

Accessing the forms to exercise data privacy requests is often as simple as visiting companies’ websites. This LexisNexus website, as one example, provides Connecticut consumers with information regarding their rights and the information they can request, including reports of their personal information collected and sold. They can also request to opt-out of sale or sharing of their data directly on that website.

Such resources are also available through platforms ranging from newspapers to internet providers, showing the extent of this bill and wide-ranging consumer support it delivers. While the bill passed two years ago and went into effect last year, many consumers may not yet know about the opportunities available to them.

Posted by Joe O’Leary