Klobuchar Wanted a Return to Normalcy, but Do Voters?

Klobuchar supporters at a rally in Charleston, South Carolina.

While Donald Trump self-inflates and Bernie Sanders talks of revolution, Klobuchar keeps to a middle lane, including on the big tech issues of the day.

From election security to privacy to transparency in online ads, Klobuchar is a practical legislator in an a political environment that at times has seemed chaotic.

Klobuchar has long been interested in digital security, particularly when it comes to elections, according to those who have known her for years.

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, who served in the state legislature, remembers that when Klobuchar was a county attorney in the early 2000s, she pushed him to put forward a bill on the then-novel phenomenon of phishing.

Klobuchar took the the lead on the Election Security Act, which was aimed at making elections more secure as well as preventing foreign interference.

The bill Klobuchar introduced, the Social Media Privacy Protection and Consumer Rights Act of 2019, would require social media companies to inform users, prior to them even creating an account, that their personal data will be collected and used by both the operator and third parties.

"Companies continue to profit off of the personal data they collect from Americans, but they leave consumers completely in the dark about how their personal information is being used," Klobuchar said in a statement accompanying the bills release.

"Senator Klobuchar will propose landmark legislation to take on monopoly power, empower our workers, and protect consumers' privacy and health data privacy," it reads.

While Klobuchar has folded her bid for the White House, her campaign has helped put issues like digital privacy and internet user rights higher up on the agenda.