By: Linda L. Goodman
Consumer Privacy seems to be an urgent topic lately, with the GDPR passage last year, and with many US States passing legislation for consumer privacy protection, with consumer advocate groups and the business community asking for a national privacy legislation, there is a lot of pressure on the US Government to develop a broader national privacy legislation to govern how businesses collect, use, share and protect personal information.
The Senate and House of Representatives are holding hearings to discuss the issue. They will be hearing from and considering ideas from the US Chamber of Commerce, Internet Association and The Software Alliance, Google, Microsoft, Apple, consumer advocate groups and others who all support a uniform federal privacy rule. The biggest issue for lawmakers is finding a balance between protecting consumers and businesses’ ability to innovate.
Industry and legal groups are hopeful that the hearings will lead to legislation but they understand that there are a lot of issues to discuss and agree upon, including who will enforce, who should be allowed to go after companies who break the rules, how the federal standards would preempt more stringent state regulation, what kind of data will be protected, what companies are allowed to do with consumer data and how much control the consumer has over their data.
Another big issue for legislators is the figure out how a federal privacy bill would affect companies that are already covered by other privacy and data security laws like the HIPPA and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
As you can see from the short list of issues, a federal privacy legislation won’t be resolved quickly or easily. It will take time for the legislators to gather the information, develop a framework and present it. This process will take time and hopefully everyone involved can get together and come to an agreement.
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This article was originally posted on Cliclaw.com as part of my ongoing efforts to share valuable legal insights. I regularly contribute guest blogs to leading websites in the field of internet compliance. In these posts, I cover a range of topics to help businesses stay compliant in the ever-evolving digital world. You can read my latest guest contributions on Cliclaw.com.
This article is a publication of The Goodman Law Firm and is intended to provide information on recent legal developments. This article does not create an attorney-client relationship, nor should it be construed as legal advice or an opinion on specific situations. This may constitute “Attorney Advertising” under the Rules of Professional Conduct and under the law of other jurisdictions.
Linda L. Goodman is the founder of The Goodman Law Firm, concentrating its practice in internet business and law. Her firm’s clients include Advertisers, Affiliates, Affiliate Networks, and ISP’s.
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