Data-rich companies like Facebook have a unique opportunity to capitalize on the recent surge in regulatory scrutiny and turn it to their advantage.

Savvy tech companies are attuned to public opinion and won’t allow others to control the narrative. They are already taking steps to regain the upper hand in the privacy debate.

Facebook demonstrated this during Senate hearings on the Cambridge Analytica “data breach” by announcing it would upgrade privacy features and offer its users protections that mirror those in the EU’s strict General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Facebook has also gone out of its way to publicize its efforts to comply with GDPR. Messaging service WhatsApp, too, recently touted its decision to set a minimum age of 16 for EU users.

Some of the major tech companies – Facebook, Google and Apple – could actually benefit from increased data privacy and security regulation if they take the initiative. They have the resources to impose strict compliance requirements on smaller third-party players such as application developers and vendors in the tech eco-system, portraying themselves as trusted custodians of consumer data.

To gain the advantage, they will need to be proactive because regulators are not sitting back.

Officials at all levels of government are clamoring to get a piece of the data privacy enforcement pie. The SEC recently imposed a first-of-its-kind $35 million fine on Altaba Inc., formerly Yahoo, for failing to disclose a major data breach. The FTC struck its first-ever 20-year consent decree with Uber Technologies Inc., and states are also getting into the act. Arizona and Delaware recently joined the list of states that have toughened their breach notification laws, while attorneys general have stepped up enforcement activities in Massachusetts (Equifax), New York (Facebook), Pennsylvania (Uber) and other states.

Data is the new currency. As a result, antitrust regulators have stepped up scrutiny of M&A deals in relation to the aggregation and control of data. This has already affected proposed deals. The EU halted Apple’s proposed acquisition of Shazam over possible adverse effects on other music streaming services.

In this climate, it is no time for major tech companies to lay low. The smarter path – the one that will allow them to regain the initiative – is taking proactive steps to address privacy and data security concerns before regulators do it for them.

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