Digital Trust Credentials Can Help Untangle America’s State Privacy Morass

BusinessDigital Trust Credentials Can Help Untangle America’s State Privacy MorassByRaj Ananthanpillai,Forbes Books Author.for Forbes BooksAUTHOR POSTExpertise and opinions of authors published by ForbesBooks. Imprint operated under license. | Paid ProgramMay 19, 2026, 12:31pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.A Trust Credential could solve our data privacy problems.gettyBeing a consumer today is exhausting. You get asked for the same sensitive personal details again and again—when you apply for a job, open a bank account, sign up for a gig platform, rent an apartment, or verify your age online. It’s even worse if you’re a business owner. Every new workflow becomes a data-retention liability, and every vendor connection becomes another potential leak point for your customers’ personal information. The stakes are not theoretical. Identity fraud and scams cost Americans $47 billion in 2024, according to an AARP-backed report based on Javelin research. And breach frequency is still relentless. And the Identity Theft Resource Center tracked 3,322 “data compromises” in 2025, its highest number on record. The uncomfortable truth is that we don’t have a privacy problem. We have a data-copying and hoarding problem. More specifically, we have a state-by-state rules problem that’s making the copying even harder to manage.The Patchwork Is Now the Operating SystemAt the federal level, the U.S. still lacks a comprehensive privacy law. Meanwhile, state legislatures have moved quickly. The IAPP’s tracker lists twenty states with comprehensive consumer privacy laws, each with different effective dates, thresholds, and obligations. As one Forbes Councils post notes, “Twenty states and zero federal guidance. That is the reality of privacy compliance in 2026.” This state-driven landscape is more than a legal headache. It changes product design based on the state you operate in and turns interstate...