Amazon, Apple, others to testify before the US Senate on data privacy September 26

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – According to a statement released Wednesday by Congress, six major internet and Internet service companies, including AT & T Inc., Twitter Inc. and Google's Alphabet Inc., will detail their consumer data protection practices.

The Senate hearing will allow the six technology-related companies, which also include Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc. and Charter Communications Inc., to explain their privacy-related approaches, John Thune, chairman of the board of directors. Republican Committee of Commerce.

They will also testify on "how they plan to meet the new demands of the European Union and California, and what Congress can do to promote clear expectations of confidentiality without harming innovation Thune said.

Data privacy has become an increasingly important issue, fueled by massive violations that have compromised the personal information of millions of US Internet and social media users, as well as violations involving large retailers and an agency. Equifax Credit Inc.

On Tuesday, the Internet Association, which represents more than 40 major internet and technology companies, said Tuesday that it supports the modernization of US data privacy rules, but wanted a national approach preempting new regulations in the US. in 2020.

Witnesses at the September 26th Senate hearing include Google's Privacy Officer, Twitter's Global Head of Data Protection and Apple's Vice President of Software Technology.

The White House said in July that it was working on developing consumer data protection policies and officials were meeting with big business to see the policies in the legislation.

California Governor Jerry Brown signed a data privacy law in June to give consumers greater control over how businesses collect and manage their personal information, even if they are not as strict as the new rules in Europe.

Under the law, large companies would be required, from 2020, to let consumers view the data collected, request the deletion of data and refuse to sell the data to third parties.

The EU's General Data Protection Regulation came into force in May, replacing the patchwork of rules dating back to 1995. Any violation of privacy laws can result in fines of up to 4% of global income. or 20 million euros. , against a few hundred thousand euros.