The US is behind Western and Northern Europe in almost every facet of development that I can think of, except for GDP per capita. Education, healthcare, social mobility, political culture, news media seriousness, public infrastructure, etc.
The US is also shockingly institutionally paralyzed and unable to make meaningful reforms in any area, even if they are very popular with the majority of voters. The last one I can think of was ObamaCare, which was not a particularly radical change, but felt like it because of how difficult it was to pass.
It's not particularly interesting to ask "why can't we reform digital privacy laws" -- the more interesting general question is "why can't we reform anything".
The US is also shockingly institutionally paralyzed and unable to make meaningful reforms in any area, even if they are very popular with the majority of voters. The last one I can think of was ObamaCare, which was not a particularly radical change, but felt like it because of how difficult it was to pass.
It's not particularly interesting to ask "why can't we reform digital privacy laws" -- the more interesting general question is "why can't we reform anything".