I’ve said it before, there’s really only one way to make user data safe. Nations that want their citizens’ data to be safe need to pass laws that make exposing that user data extremely (cripplingly) bad for companies.

The penalties need to be so harsh that the fines could put them out of business. Companies should not want to hold user data, they need to think of user data like toxic waste, more of a liability than a valuable resource. When companies need user information to operate they can utilize “data handler” companies, firms that specialize in secure storage and are willing to risk actually holding user information. These companies can provide APIs for other organizations to actually access the user data when needed. But to be clear, most companies will not want to store that data on site, because the risk of exposure could be ruinous to the company.

There’s an extra benefit of this plan too. Most organizations don’t hold user data, they pay someone better at it to hold it for them. Because they need to pay for API access, they’ll use the data sparingly, not frivolously throwing user data everything, tracking users on the web, or sharing data with advertisers. Having to pay for access will make companies use our data less.