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Why The Time Is Now For More Technology, Less Government
I am a Fort Worth mom with four young children, but as a digital business owner I am an old-timer. I started my first online business more than a decade ago, and now I am running my fourth online business. I can testify to the extraordinary advances in technology that make doing business so simple…
Companies Take ‘Wait-and-See’ Approach to Compliance with New California Privacy Law
After weeks of frantic negotiations, the California Data Privacy Protection Act officially became law in late June 2018. While the act doesn’t go into effect until January 2020, many are already wondering what the law means for companies operating in the state and their in-house legal departments. Indeed, it’s an open question how their corporate…
Small businesses need digital stability, not onerous rules: Guest view
I work with owners of more than 700 small businesses. They have varied specialties and include marketers, life and wellness coaches, designers, developers, artists, HR specialists and operations consultants. Many of the small-business owners worked at large companies for several years before making the exciting leap to self-employment and starting a business. All were enabled…
Navigating Digital Solutions in the Age of Big Tech
The Federal Trade Commission has announced a plan to hold up to 20 public hearings between September and January 2019 to assess whether new laws are needed to regulate tech firms. The non-profit 3C has launched to help small businesses access some of those same technology services. 3C will also advocate for policy that does not interfere with the…
Congress: Hands off small business
Living in Northern Colorado, I don’t pay much attention to Washington, D.C. But recently I watched congressional hearings that unnerved me a bit, and I am concerned that Congress is preparing to inadvertently hurt millions of small businesses including those that employ 1.1 million Coloradans. Since 2010, my company has helped hundreds of Colorado small…
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Regulating data usage is a drag on small business
The June 15 Guest Commentary “New European Rules Give U.S. Internet Users True Privacy Choices for the First Time” completely ignores the consequences that sweeping privacy rules like the ones implemented in Europe can have on small businesses, which employ 1.1 million Missourians. Small businesses, like my plumbing company, rely on Facebook, Google, Pinterest, Quickbooks,…
How should the feds regulate tech? This government watchdog is hitting the road for ideas.
The Trump administration’s privacy, competition and consumer protection cops plan to embark on a cross-country listening tour to gauge how academics and average Web users believe the U.S. government should address digital-age challenges that include the rise of artificial intelligence and the data-collection mishaps that have plagued companies such as Facebook. The effort announced Wednesday…
The Future of Digital Marketing in a Data-Privacy World
Companies have long collected data on consumers to determine what people want and who their potential customers might be. But for anybody doing in business in Europe, how they go about collecting that data just got a lot more difficult. And corporate marketing departments are rushing to figure out what to do next. What changed…
How To Ensure Your Small Business Isn’t A Failure Statistic This Year
While two-thirds of Americans dream of opening their own small business, recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals that approximately 20% of small businesses fail in their first year, and about 50% of small businesses fail in their fifth year. Clearly, there’s great risk involved in starting a small business today, and many…