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Whether it’s a decade’s worth of family photos or an online professional network that took years to cultivate, many of us remain tethered to dominant platforms because of the sheer weight of our own data. But as Big Tech grows ever more powerful and monopolistic, our control over that data seems to only grow weaker. 

We’ve introduced the New York Digital Choice Act to reclaim the right to our own data. Our bill enshrines three essential consumer rights: the right to download our data (portability), the right to connect across platforms (interoperability), and the right to permanently erase our data (deletion). 

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This legislation would require social platforms to let users export their “social graph,” a dataset of their social media history, actions and information. By requiring platforms to use interoperable formats, the Digital Choice Act lets users easily transfer their data elsewhere, expanding consumer choice. 

Key to our approach is consent and privacy. No data could be aggregated without the explicit consent of the user. Even then, users would retain the ability to mark their data private. Our bill would also give users the ability to delete their data entirely, letting them take their information back from tech companies that have abused it.

Our bill also requires platforms to create an accessible interface for users to transfer their social graphs elsewhere, similar to the way cellphone customers can transfer a device to a new service provider if they wish. Providers once prohibited this practice, locking phones to their network and rendering devices unusable if customers tried to switch. But regulations abolished this deeply anticompetitive practice, offering consumers real choice and fostering healthier market competition. The same concept applies here.

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These features should be basic rights this far into the digital age, yet as with so many other privacy protections, Big Tech is already gearing up to fight us.

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The biggest social media companies have long trafficked in anticompetitive practices. Dominant platforms regularly abuse their access to consumer data to undermine competitors and block the development of innovative, privacy-enhancing tech. Our bill would help break down those walls, ensuring the biggest tech companies can’t stifle innovation. 

But this is about more than economics. Data monopolies can threaten public safety. When users lack digital choice, they may feel forced to remain on platforms rife with deepfake pornography, drug trafficking and addictive algorithms. And of course, social media companies regularly store, mine and sell users’ personal information with few restrictions, putting them at enormous risk of data harvesting or hacks. 

If a parent wants to move their child — or themselves — to a safer digital space, they should be able to take their data with them. All of us should. Our Digital Choice Act gives users the ability to walk away, and incentivizes platforms to prioritize safety if they want to retain users. It also protects users from unnecessary data exposure by dispersing risk and lowers the chance of mass breaches.

In Europe, regulators have taken similar steps with the Digital Markets Act, effectively mandating that users have the right to choose their own default browsers and move their social data between platforms. But in the U.S., the federal government has done little more than twiddle its thumbs. In the absence of national leadership, states have stepped up. From the Utah Digital Choice Act to efforts in California and Colorado to the Child Data Protection Act here in New York, states are working to ensure citizens have real autonomy in the digital age.

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By passing the Digital Choice Act, we aim to restore human agency in an increasingly digital world. People, not platforms, should be in control.

State Sen. Andrew Gounardes of Brooklyn represents the 26th Senate District. Assemblyman Alex Bores of Manhattan represents the 73rd Assembly District.