Congress, Set a Strong Privacy Baseline for US Citizens
Today, industry leaders testified before the Senate Commerce Committee hearing on “Examining Safeguards for Consumer Data Privacy,” discussing their companies’ approaches to privacy and what Congress can do to establish robust privacy protections. The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) has advocated for comprehensive baseline privacy legislation in the United States for nearly 25 years, and we welcome the strong recognition from the hearing that a universal legal framework is a necessary next step.
“Industry is pleading with Congress to write a federal privacy law and Congress should use this historic opportunity to pass strong privacy legislation,” said Michelle Richardson, Director of CDT’s Privacy & Data team. “It is apparent from the hearing today that Congress is still in fact-finding mode, and we urge members to shift their focus from how individual users can navigate privacy policies to what systemic changes industry should make in the way they collect and use our data.”
CDT continues to work towards drafting a model federal privacy law that strongly defends U.S. citizens’ privacy, and we look forward to helping Congressional offices ensure their legislative proposals do the same.
