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Extreme Data Restrictions: What Small Businesses Need to Know
Across the country, lawmakers are considering — and passing — strict new laws that dramatically limit how businesses can collect and use basic customer data. Intended to protect consumers’ privacy, these “data minimization” provisions seriously disrupt online advertising and marketing — making it much harder for small businesses to find customers, grow, and compete. How…
Small Businesses Express Concern Ahead of Google Ad Tech Remedies Trial
WASHINGTON (Sept. 18, 2025) — Small-business leaders voiced serious concerns ahead of the pending remedies phase of the United States v. Google LLC ad tech trial. Starting September 22, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema will hear remedy proposals from Google and the Department of Justice — including the DOJ’s radical proposal to break up Google’s…
Digital Ads Taxes Threaten Small Business Growth
Data-powered digital advertising has been a game-changer for small businesses, allowing even the smallest companies to affordably reach the right customers and compete with much larger brands. But now, proposals to tax digital ads threaten to drive up costs — making it harder for small businesses to connect with customers and grow. The stakes are…
Massachusetts Privacy Proposals Would Hurt Small Businesses
Massachusetts lawmakers are considering several new data privacy bills that could harm small businesses across the state. Small businesses support consumer privacy protections, but these proposals would impose some of the most extreme data restrictions in the country — limiting how small businesses can use digital tools to grow, compete, and serve their customers. Massachusetts…
Navigating Uncertainty: The Power of Small Business Advocacy
Top 10 Questions Answered – 2025 Edition Ahead of Congress’s August recess, we hosted a timely webinar to help equip small business leaders with the tools they need to advocate for digital policies that will help their businesses grow, compete, and succeed in today’s uncertain economy. On July 29, hundreds of small business leaders tuned…
California’s Proposed Universal Data-Sharing Opt-Out Law Will Hurt Small Businesses
Data-powered digital tools, including ads and analytics, are key to small businesses’ growth and success. So it’s worrying that California legislators are considering a bill, AB 566, that could significantly limit data availability. AB 566 requires web browsers like Chrome and Safari to let customers opt out of all online data sharing in a single…
Collateral Damage: How Small Businesses Could Lose Big in the DOJ’s Fight Against Google
The remedies phase of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) “search” suit against Google is well underway, and it could have serious consequences for small businesses across the country. Last fall, U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta found that Google violated antitrust law by making contracts with phone manufacturers that ensured its search tools were the…
How Digital Tools Help Small Businesses Weather Economic Challenges
Sharon Nguyen and Prisha Punjwani, 3C’s Tech Policy Fellows Recent trade policy changes have created serious challenges for small businesses. Most notably, steep new tariffs are driving up the costs of imported goods and materials, forcing small businesses to choose between two bad options: They can either absorb the higher costs and accept pared-down margins,…
