U.S. House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee members Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) urged President Joe Biden to work with Congress to develop a national consumer privacy and data security law this year.
Their Jan. 28 letter, which is also signed by U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), renews a similar request they made in July 2021 that has yet to receive a reply from Biden.
“Since we last wrote six months ago, we have neither received a response from you nor seen meaningful activity on the part of the executive branch to protect the data privacy of U.S. consumers,” the E&C Committee members wrote. “However, we have seen several troubling reports about the myriad ways Americans’ personal information is being misused and abused.”
For example, Big Tech companies are exploiting the data and online habits of children and teens, showing how urgent it is for Congress to act to protect consumers’ data privacy, according to their letter.
“This is a national imperative for maintaining a strong and secure digital economy,” the members wrote. “We hope you will join us in this effort to give Americans more control over their personal information, provide meaningful safeguards over their data, and restore trust in the safety and security of our online ecosystem.”
Rather than having “a patchwork of conflicting and confusing state statutes,” Congress should act now and can use a legislative framework released in November 2021 by E&C Committee Republicans, they wrote.
The committee members’ legislative draft establishes a national privacy standard to protect Americans and sets rules for consumer privacy and data security that adhere to four principles to ensure a national standard that increases transparency, improves accountability, enhances security, and protects innovation and small businesses.
“This is a national imperative for maintaining a strong and secure digital economy,” wrote the lawmakers, who asked Biden to join their “effort to give Americans more control over their personal information, provide meaningful safeguards over their data, and restore trust in the safety and security of our online ecosystem.”
The E&C Committee Republicans’ framework is supported by Privacy for America, The App Association, the Information Technology Industry Council, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Chamber Technology Engagement Center, the Software and Information Industry Association, TechNet, the Consumer Tech Association, the Internet Association, and many others.