If the companies that are actually leaking personal data had any liability, perhaps they would want to buy software that came with such a warranty! I don't thi

If the companies that are actually leaking personal data had any liability, perhaps they would want to buy software that came with such a warranty! I don't think software warranties should be mandated by law - if that were the case, open source software would probably never have come to exist. But I agree with you that software intended to sit in important security boundaries probably mostly should be available with a warranty. Again, imposing strict liability on the company leaking the data will find this equilibrium if it is the right one. You will go to buy "cyber insurance" for the 100 million user profiles you are storing- a $10 billion possible loss for the insurer- and they will read the fine print of your software licenses! When we are talking about stuff sold to consumers- smartphones that lose your personal information or webcams that are part of botnets- it's a little less clear. The legal system probably isn't up to holding individual webcam owners liable for an attractive nuisance, and then having them turn around and sue the manufacturers, etc. It is more practical to impose liability on the manufacturer of the product by default (unless the consumer use is negligent). But again, any such regime needs to be crafted carefully to not effectively outlaw free software, hobbyist friendly hardware, etc. Be careful what you wish for.