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The technology and telecommunications industries are pushing for Congress to pass a federal business-friendly privacy law that would prevent stronger consumer protection in states like California.(Photo: diego_cervo / Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO – Big companies, including Amazon, AT & T, Apple, and Google, are lobbying Congress to draft legislation preempting a unique California privacy law that protects consumers in Canada. line.
Senior executives from these companies, along with Twitter and Charter Communications, offered industry support for a federal privacy law with weaker consumer protection at a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
Such a bill would prevent states like California from adopting more stringent privacy protections. The leaders argued that a mosaic of different state laws would make business difficult and threaten innovation. Points to remember from the Axios point of sale: "Technology companies want privacy rules, but on their own terms."
The testimony on Capitol Hill came one day after the Commerce Department recommended new regulations on how companies treat consumers' personal information, similar to that offered by the technology and telecommunications industries.
Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, warned that industry pressure would not benefit from bipartite support if it was simply designed to supplant California's progressive law with a "federal law" non-progressive ".
Consumer Advocates, who have objected to a Senate hearing without anyone to represent consumers, echoed this sentiment, saying that they will fight for stricter standards.
"Today's process was flawed. He started by convincing the foxes that the henhouse had to be protected, "said Nathan White, senior legislative officer of the Access Now advocacy group, in a statement. "Instead, the Congress should look at the problem from the point of view of those who risk being hurt: the users."
A careful review of data collection by lawmakers following the Cambridge Analytica data scandal has resulted in some regulation of the technology and telecommunications industries. Now, Congress needs to take into account the concerns of consumer privacy advocates, who are pushing people to better control how their personal information is collected and used, as well as the powerful technology and telecom companies that exploit that data.
"The question is no longer whether we need a federal law to protect the privacy of consumers.The question is, what form should this law take," Republican John Thune said on Wednesday. South Dakota.
Its committee convened a second meeting early next month to assess consumer sentiment. Alastair Mactaggart, a Californian privacy activist who has spent millions of dollars to enact privacy law in California, and Andrea Jelinek, Austrian head of new privacy rules in the European Union.
Senator John Thune, R-N.D., At a hearing at Capitol Hill in June. (Photo: Associated Press)
The technology industry is pushing for lower regulations than in California or the European Union. Apple, which does not rely on advertising sales for its revenue, has been the only company in the audience to argue that the bar of federal legislation should be high enough to protect consumers.
Earlier this week, Google proposed a business-friendly framework for a federal privacy law. The Trump administration has signaled its approach to data privacy when, in 2017, it removed the Obama rules restricting Internet service providers such as AT & T and Comcast. selling information about online browsing habits of consumers.
According to the Pew Research Center, 9% of American Internet users think they have "a lot of control" over the information collected about them. Nearly three quarters of those surveyed say that it is very important for them to know who can get information about them. And two-thirds of Americans online say the current laws are not good enough.
The California law signed by Governor Jerry Brown in June brought technology and telecommunications companies to the negotiating table. The law, which comes into force in January 2020, does not technically protect consumers in other states, but its adoption has encouraged consumer advocates from other states to impose aggressive restrictions on the collection and use of information. personal.
According to the current version of the law, consumers will have the right to know what personal information companies collect and why and with which companies they are shared. They will also have the right to ask companies to delete their information and not sell it. The law also restricts the sharing or sale of data of children under 16 years of age. Consumers who do not allow businesses to sell their personal data should benefit from the same level of service, but companies may charge higher fees.
Companies like AT & T, Verizon, Facebook and Google, as well as privacy advocates, are pushing for changes to the law. State legislators have stated that they expect to adopt "cleaning bills" to address problems with the law before it takes effect.
James Steyer, founder of Common Sense Media and one of the sponsors of the California bill, says the technology industry can not trust itself.
"It's a desperate attempt to try and roll back what we've just achieved in California, which is a historic protection for consumers, children and families," said Steyer. "We understand that the historic law we passed is not perfect, but it is a very good start and we must be careful not to let the technology industry push us back."
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