Bonta's Privacy Consortium: A Trojan Horse for Government Data Control?

California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta just announced a shiny new pact with six states and the California Privacy Protection Agency, forming what they call the Consortium of Privacy Regulators. It sounds noble, a bipartisan effort to shield consumers from the wild west of data collection. But let’s cut through the rhetoric. This is a power grab dressed up as protection, a move that risks strangling innovation and piling burdens on businesses while doing little to secure real freedom.

The pitch is simple: data crosses borders, so states must band together to enforce privacy laws. Fine in theory, but when government agencies start pooling resources and coordinating enforcement, you get a bureaucracy with too much muscle and not enough accountability. The Consortium, including states like Colorado and New Jersey, claims it’s about safeguarding personal information. Yet the track record of these initiatives suggests a different story, one where small businesses get crushed under compliance costs and consumers lose access to the very services they rely on.

Privacy matters, no question. When hackers or shady companies mishandle your data, it can wreck lives, from stolen bank accounts to exposed medical records. But the solution isn’t a government-led crusade that treats every business like a villain. The California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, is already one of the toughest laws out there, and now Bonta wants to supercharge it with a multi-state task force. This isn’t about protection; it’s about control.

The real question is who watches the watchers. Governments have a nasty habit of overstepping, and this Consortium smells like the first step toward a federalized data regime that could choke out the free market and erode the very liberties it claims to defend.

Let’s talk about the CCPA, California’s so-called landmark privacy law. It gives consumers rights to know what data businesses collect, opt out of sales, and demand deletion. Sounds great until you dig into the fine print. Businesses, especially small ones, are drowning in compliance costs. They have to rewrite privacy policies, hire lawyers, and build systems to handle consumer requests, all while praying they don’t get slapped with a lawsuit. In 2024, Bonta’s office hit a food delivery platform with a $375,000 fine for allegedly sharing data without proper notice. That’s real money, and it’s not just big tech getting burned.

The law’s defenders say it empowers consumers, but it’s also killing choice. Companies, wary of CCPA’s penalties, are pulling out of California or scaling back services. Streaming platforms and mobile apps, targeted in Bonta’s 2024 investigative sweeps, are now rethinking how they operate. Some are passing costs to consumers, hiking prices to cover the legal baggage. Others just shut down features, leaving users with less functionality. This isn’t empowerment; it’s a regulatory stranglehold that punishes innovation.

Then there’s the enforcement hypocrisy. Bonta’s team brags about settlements with companies like Sephora and DoorDash for CCPA violations. But where’s the scrutiny on government agencies that mishandle data? In 2023, a California state breach exposed thousands of residents’ personal information. No fines, no headlines, just a quiet apology. If the state can’t secure its own data, why should we trust it to police the private sector?

The CCPA’s ripple effects are national. Other states are copying its playbook, creating a patchwork of laws that make it impossible for businesses to operate efficiently. The Consortium’s push for coordinated enforcement only makes this worse, threatening to standardize California’s heavy-handed approach across the country. That’s not progress; it’s a recipe for economic stagnation.

Bonta’s latest obsession is location data, and he’s not alone. His March 2025 sweep targeted companies collecting geolocation info, with a focus on protecting vulnerable groups like immigrants or those seeking healthcare. The concern isn’t baseless, data brokers have sold info that’s been misused, like tracking visits to clinics. But the solution isn’t another layer of regulation that paints all businesses with the same brush.

Here’s the rub. Location data fuels services we all use, from navigation apps to targeted ads that keep free platforms alive. Bonta’s crackdown risks gutting these tools while doing little to stop bad actors. Data brokers operate in shadows, often outside CCPA’s reach, yet legitimate businesses bear the brunt of enforcement. In 2024, states like Massachusetts tried regulating location data as sensitive, but the result was chaos, companies pulled services, and consumers lost access to real-time traffic updates.

The bigger issue is selective outrage. Bonta ties location data to hot-button issues like reproductive healthcare, invoking fears of prosecution post-Dobbs. Yet his office ignores how government itself exploits data. Law enforcement agencies have bought location data from brokers, bypassing warrants, a practice exposed in 2022. If Bonta wants to protect privacy, he’d start with his own backyard instead of vilifying businesses that provide jobs and services.

There’s a smarter way to protect privacy without torching the economy. First, focus on actual threats, like data brokers and hackers, not blanket rules that punish everyone. Second, incentivize businesses to adopt strong security without mandating one-size-fits-all compliance. Tax breaks for cybersecurity investments would do more than Bonta’s fines. Third, educate consumers to make informed choices, not just hand them a maze of opt-out forms.

Historical attempts at privacy regulation, like the 1998 COPPA law, show targeted rules can work without killing innovation. COPPA focused on kids’ data and left room for businesses to adapt. Compare that to the CCPA, which micromanages every data point and spawns lawsuits that enrich trial lawyers, not consumers. The Consortium’s multi-state approach could learn from COPPA’s precision, but instead, it’s doubling down on California’s bloated model.

The reality is, freedom thrives on trust, not control. Consumers want secure data, but they also want the services that make life easier. Bonta’s Consortium, with its coordinated enforcement and vague promises, risks tipping the balance toward a surveillance state where government, not citizens, calls the shots. That’s not the American way.

The Consortium of Privacy Regulators is a wake-up call. It’s not just about California; it’s about a growing trend where government overreach masquerades as consumer protection. Every business owner, every taxpayer, every citizen who values a free market should be paying attention. The CCPA and its multi-state offspring threaten to reshape how we live, work, and innovate, and not for the better.

We need leaders who champion real solutions, ones that protect privacy without sacrificing the dynamism that drives America’s economy. Bonta’s vision, with its endless regulations and punitive fines, is a step backward. It’s time to demand accountability, not just from businesses, but from the bureaucrats who think they know better than the rest of us. Freedom demands nothing less.