What Happens in Vegas Stays in China
Aynne Kokas · 2022
Abstract In the United States, the tech sector is at the center of a battle between national security interests and unbridled growth. As the US economy has become dependent on technology firms, which constitute over one-fifth of the S&P 500 stock index, Big Tech’s financial interests have prevailed over the national interests of US digital sovereignty. Chapter 2 argues that a lack of systemic oversight of the US tech sector’s data landscape leaves US consumer data vulnerable to gathering and exfiltration. This oversight vacuum, it shows, protects US firms in the short term but conditions consumers to ignore the question of where their data goes, enabling Chinese tech companies in the United States to harvest and extract this information. By failing to systematically protect consumer data, the US market—from baby monitor manufacturers to social media platforms—has become a treasure trove of data for Chinese firms.