Right to privacy is intact, but Americans must fight for it: Lara Logan

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Lara Logan: There are no 'consequences' for Big Tech companies collecting data

Lara Logan sits down with a white hat hacker to discuss privacy issues and how Big Tech responds to data breaches.

Americans have given away their privacy, and must take intentional steps to get it back, including pushing elected officials to change the laws, and denying Big Tech the right to use data, said Fox Nation host Lara Logan.

"There are countless ways Americans can protect themselves," said Logan. "The right to privacy is intact, and we have to fight for it if we want to preserve it." 

In a recent season of "Lara Logan Has No Agenda" on Fox Nation, the host noted that Americans would not actively choose to give the NSA or corporations like Google and Amazon access to the most intimate parts of their lives, but that is exactly what they have done through many of the smart devices that are in Americans’ homes.

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"We did that at a time we were deliberately deceived by tech companies and their allies in government in order to give them extraordinary license to garner unprecedented power that we would never have allowed, and never have allowed in the history of this country," she said in an interview with Fox News. 

This problem is, in part, due to politicians who rely on Big Tech to get elected.

"We have never allowed normal companies that are not tech companies to amass the kind of global power and monopoly power over the U.S., not just the U.S. economy, but the U.S. society that we have given to Google and Amazon," she said.

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Logan noted that for many, this is not a conscious decision, but because this power was once given away, it can also be taken back, but will require "unique and rare leaders" who are "willing to risk everything to stand up against that power." 

"You don’t need an army of 100,000 Nelson Mandela’s or Mahatma Gandhi’s in order to change the world. You just need one," she said. "You just need one." 

For Americans looking to protect themselves, Logan said there are practical steps they can take. 

"Do practical small things like maintain digital hygiene, clear out your history, clear out your cookies," she said. "Go into every app you use. Deny, deny, deny, deny. Do not let them use your data. Do not let them use you and take your privacy away from you." 

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Logan noted that sometimes, this is not an easy thing to do. Protecting privacy may require using Google for fewer things, giving up the convenience that cookies can provide on your devices, or turning off location services on your phone.

"You have to feel a little pain," she said. 

It is also important for consumers to stay aware, and to take note of when tech companies are being bought out. It’s a process, she said, that "unfortunately requires more and more work on our behalf." 

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Since being founded in 2001, Google has acquired over 200 companies, including YouTube and Fitbit, and Facebook has acquired nearly 100 companies, including Instagram and WhatsApp.

"People need to pay attention, they need to put work into it," she said. "You can make your children aware. You can make your friends aware. You can exercise the power that people still have in what is left in the freedoms and rights in practice, and fight to maintain those in spite of the enormous price that all of us are going to have to pay to maintain these freedoms."