Following an explosive Wall Street Journal report regarding how app developers accessed deeply private data on a social media platform—such as users’ medical and health information—regulators, enforcement agencies, grassroots organizations, and lawmakers pounced. This report and its fallout illustrate the risk that private innovators face from fickle and fast-moving government scrutiny. Companies can take steps to prepare for the unpredictable.
It Only Takes a Spark
In the case of the social media apps, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo mounted an extraordinarily aggressive response to the report, by ordering a multitude of state agencies to investigate the underlying charges and calling on federal regulators to do the same. He was able to get the attention of sympathizers in Congress and has laid a foundation for continued scrutiny. Governor Cuomo’s move touched nearly every level of government.
