On May 1, 2019, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on “Consumer Perspectives: Policy Principles for a Federal Data Privacy Framework”—the Committee’s third hearing during this session discussing principles for comprehensive federal privacy legislation. You can read our reports on the earlier hearings here and here. A full transcript of the most recent hearing is available here.
- Helen Dixon, Data Protection Commissioner of Ireland
- Neema Singh Guliani, Senior Legislative Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union
- Jules Polonetsky, CEO, Future of Privacy Forum
- Jim Steyer, CEO and Founder, Common Sense Media
In his opening statement, Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) focused on consumer trust, which he argued has been undermined by the growing frequency of major data breaches and incidents of data misuse. While collection of personal information can benefit many sectors of the economy, he contended, the status quo is jeopardizing the long-term prosperity of the digital economy. Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) echoed the Senator Wicker’s statements and added that self-regulation has proved insufficient. She stressed the importance of Congress’s taking action promptly.
Read more via our “Senate Holds Hearing on Consumer Perspectives as Congress Continues to Develop Federal Privacy Legislation” client alert.
