Congress Wants Input on White House Privacy Policy

A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators asked Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to consult Congress concerning the consumer-privacy blueprint being drafted by the White House.

According to media reports, the administration has been considering a voluntary framework or a possible executive order that would not require the approval of Congress. It reportedly has held extensive meetings with business groups over the summer. Recently, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced that it would hold a series of public hearings as part of its creation of a voluntary privacy framework similar to the cybersecurity framework that it created a few years ago.

The Senators that sent the letter to Ross included Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Brian Schatz (D-HI). The letter, dated today, contended that “[a]ny proposal that satisfies both the needs of American consumers and the internet economy would require Congressional action to make it an enforceable nationwide standard.”

In other legislative news, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said that he plans to introduce a consumer privacy bill in a few weeks. This would make the third privacy bill to anticipate this fall in the Senate, as there are already two bills being worked on by members of the Senate Commerce Committee.

Senator Thune, who is chair of the Senate Commerce Committee and has been working on one of the above mentioned privacy laws, admitted last week that Congress probably don’t have enough time left in 2018 “to do anything major on privacy.” Senator Thune called next week’s public hearings with tech leaders on privacy in his role at the Commerce Committee.

In the House of Representatives, the Information Transparency and Personal Data Control Act is the most recent privacy bill to be introduced. It joins a number of other potential laws under consideration, many of which we have previously discussed here.

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