South San Francisco, CA December 20, 2019 Press Release
Big tech companies need to pay a ‘Data Dividend’
REDWOOD CITY – San Mateo County Supervisor David J. Canepa sent a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom today urging him to implement a “data dividend” pilot program in San Mateo County as companies such as Facebook profit of off its users’ personal information.
“During the holidays, one of the biggest data sharing weeks of the year, companies such as Facebook, YouTube, Google and Amazon make huge profits off of its user’s personal information,” Canepa said. “It’s time to share the wealth because our data clearly has value. Our data generates trillions of dollars of revenue but none of it is returned to its users. It’s time for the companies to pay out or else Americans should log out.”
Gov. Newsom proposed a data dividend in his state of the state address in February.
Below is the letter Canepa sent to the governor.
