Congress Continues Hearings into Federal Privacy Legislation

Congress continued its hearings into consumer data privacy issues and the need for federal privacy legislation. On May 1, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing titled “Consumer Perspectives: Policy Principles for a Federal Data Privacy Framework.” The witnesses, including Helen Dixon (Irish Data Protection Commissioner), Neema Singh Guliani (ACLU), Jules Polonetsky (Future of Privacy Forum), and Jim Steyer (Common Sense Media), called for strong privacy protections that provide real and meaningful control to users. Commissioner Dixon indicated that Ireland has opened 12 significant investigations into U.S. tech companies following the enactment of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation last year. Meanwhile, on May 7, the Senate Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government held a hearing into the FTC’s budget request, during which Senators questioned the agency about potential federal privacy legislation as well as the FTC’s newly created high-tech task force. On the same day, Senate Banking Committee held a hearing titled “Privacy Rights and Data Collection in a Digital Economy,” during which Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) called for legislation to create real incentives for tech companies to change. On the House side, the Energy and Commerce Committee held an FTC oversight hearing on May 8, focusing on strengthening privacy and data security protections. FTC Chairman Joseph Simons noted that the agency would like to see federal legislation on consumer privacy, and that such legislation should provide the FTC with targeted rulemaking authority.