From our credit card numbers to our social security numbers, we relinquish valuable bits of data that we would never share with our closest friends to a blank space on a screen without a second thought.

Whether it’s the website where we do most of our online shopping or a certain software we are using for a class, we trust that none of our information will be taken. So, the online breaches that impacted companies such as Sony and Target must be a reality check for many of us. Thankfully, President Obama has called for legislation that may help keep us informed if our private information is ever leaked.

This past Monday, President Obama called for the Personal Data Notification and Protection Act, which requires companies to notify their customers within 30 days if their information has been hacked. The current state laws don’t properly protect consumers, so the President has set out to fix that.

In addition, the President has called for for the Student Data Privacy Act. This will prevent technology companies from benefiting from the information they gain as schools start to use more and more technology: tablets, new apps, online textbooks, and other software. As President Obama stated on Monday the 12th, “If we’re going to be connected, then we need to be protected. As Americans, we shouldn’t have to forfeit our basic privacy when we go online to do our business.”

If these laws are passed, we will hopefully be able to see improvements in both consumers and students’ privacy.

Written by Jane Li’18