Certified Financial Planner Robert M. Ryerson has over 35 years of experience in the financial services industry. Robert M. Ryerson was recently featured on Fox Business where he emphasized the need for identity theft protection and data privacy, especially with regard to consumers’ financial information. He also directed praise at Sen. Ron Wyden’s new bill The Mind Your Business Act.

Large tech companies like Facebook have drawn criticism for their mining and use of consumer data, which exposes them to data misuse. Sen. Wyden’s proposed law would strengthen data privacy in a number of ways. For example, it would establish “Do Not Track” procedures whereby consumers are allowed to opt-out of having their data shared or otherwise used by corporations for targeted advertising. It also creates legal procedures for consumers to review the accuracy of personal data stored by corporations and even request a list of all organizations their data has been shared with.

Furthermore, the bill gives the Federal Trade Commission additional powers to implement reasonable measures ensuring technologies that handle consumers’ data function consistently with data protection practices. The bill proposes steep fines (up to 4 percent of revenue) for corporations that do not abide by defined data protection standards. It also proposes jail time for executives.