Several tech companies that filed to go public over the past week warned investors that fast-changing legal frameworks to protect consumer privacy could threaten their bottom lines. The firms told investors that expanding privacy regulations could force them to pay more fines, shuffle their global operations or even rethink business strategies. Many tech companies, such as Facebook Inc. and Roku Inc., highlighted changing laws and attitudes around privacy as a risk to their businesses as they planned to go public. Trends in the U.S. and internationally, with state and national governments exploring their own privacy protections, point to more change, he added. Public support for privacy protections and a flurry of resulting statutes mean new costs for companies like Palantir.

Source: Wall Street Journal August 28, 2020 09:33 UTC