How Data Privacy Regulations Affect Public Corporations That Profit From Consumers' Data During an Ongoing Pandemic

This research project examines how data privacy regulations, such as the California Consumer Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation, affect businesses that utilize big data to boost profits through consumer profiling and targeted marketing during an ongoing pandemic. In the current day and age, as a result of the vast growth in technological advancements, people are producing personally identifiable data at an exponential rate. This is becoming of increasing importance as there are businesses whose sole source of income is gathering and selling consumer's personal data. This information is often so unique to the person that it can be used to predict spending patterns, life choices, daily locations, and intimate details about one's life. The European Union has a regulation called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the state of California has enacted regulations modeled after the GDPR called the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA). The specific research question is what effect did the enaction and enforcement of the California Consumer Protection Act have on businesses that utilize big data to boost profits through consumer profiling and targeted marketing during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.