The Hill: Obama-era FCC counsel rips Yang proposal to treat data as personal property

A former counselor to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman under President Obama on Thursday criticized Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang’s proposal to turn data into a property right, warning that such a move would lead to a deluge of lawsuits and create a “huge mess.” 

“It’s impractical and I also think it will only lead to more litigation and claims of ‘this is mine, I must guard it jealously,’” Gigi Sohn, a Benton senior fellow and public advocate, said in an appearance on Hill.TV.

She added that certain online data is “information everybody should have.”

Yang’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to Hill.TV’s request for comment. 

Sohn’s remarks come after Yang outlined a new policy proposal on Monday for how personal data should be collected and used by tech companies for advertising purposes.

More at The Hill.