A Consumer Reports examination has found that companies make it difficult for consumers to access their personal data under state privacy laws. The finding indicates that the rights these statutes formally create are not always easy to exercise in practice.
Caroline Kraczon, counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said small fines and warning letters may have limited effect on some of the largest companies in the data economy. Her comment suggests that current enforcement tools may not meaningfully change how major data firms handle access requests.
The EPIC write-up presents the Consumer Reports findings and Kraczon's warning together, with no contradictory perspective. The shared takeaway is that state privacy laws face practical problems both in access procedures and in the penalties available to enforce them.