*By Mike Teich*
A sweeping data privacy bill has been approved in California, but it may be too late for internet users to protect their information, said former National Counterterrorism Center officer Dave White.
"You have to consider yourself compromised," he said. "You’ve already given your data away."
Experts are calling it the nation's most far-reaching law to give consumers more control over their personal data. Under the law, customers can request what personal data companies have collected and what third parties have received it.
The passing of the historical bill didn't come without criticism. The ACLU of Northern California said the legislation falls "woefully short" in defending individuals' rights.
"It's a great first step," White said. However, “it doesn’t go far enough."
Companies that collect user data, from Amazon to Microsoft to Uber, lobbied aggressively against the law, pouring millions into a [opposition campaigns](https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/15/17468292/amazon-microsoft-uber-california-consumer-privacy-act).
But consumer advocates called it a milestone victory. "Today was a [huge win](http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/28/technology/california-consumer-privacy-act/index.html) and gives consumer privacy advocates a blueprint for success," James P. Steyer, CEO and founder of Common Sense Media. "We look forward to working together with lawmakers across the nation to ensure robust data privacy protections for all Americans."
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/california-passes-historic-privacy-bill).
Schools are turning to AI-powered surveillance technology to monitor students on school-issued devices like laptops and tablets. But there are risks.
Hours after a series of outages that left X unavailable to thousands of users, Elon Musk is claiming that the social media platform is being targeted in a “massive cyberattack." Musk said on a post Monday that the attacker is either a large, coordinated group or a country. Complaints about outages spiked Monday at 6 a.m. Eastern and again at 10 a.m, with more than 40,000 users reporting no access to the platform, according to the tracking website Downdetector.com. A sustained outage appeared to begin just after noon Eastern.
The World Video Game Hall of Fame has revealed its 12 finalists for 2025. Members of the public have a week to vote for their favorites online.
An insider account being billed as an “explosive” memoir about “seven critical years” at Facebook/Meta will be published next week.
Extinction is still forever. But scientists at a biotech company are trying what they say is the next best thing to restoring ancient beasts.
The typically tight-lipped CIA is peeling back the curtain on some of its secrets with an upcoming presentation at South By Southwest festival.
Melania Trump says it’s “heartbreaking” to see teens grapple with the fallout after they’re targeted by malicious and sexually explicit online content.
A woman is suspected in a string of vandalism against a Colorado Tesla dealership that included Molotov cocktails thrown at vehicles.
Microsoft is closing down Skype, the video-calling service it bought for $8.5 billion in 2011.
A satellite company owned by Elon Musk has the inside track to potentially take over a large federal contract to modernize the nation’s air traffic system.
