Cybersecurity Policy Report, Forty Trade Groups Urge Congress to Pass Federal Privacy Law, (Jan 28, 2025)

By Tom Leithauser

Forty trade associations representing more than a dozen industry sectors, including telecom and tech, today pressed the leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees to adopt a comprehensive national privacy law that would preempt the growing “patchwork” of state laws.

“Data-driven innovation, digital advertising, and investment enable consumers to take advantage of faster, higher quality, and customized services at lower costs,” the groups said in a letter sent to the committees’ chairs and ranking members amid the international observance of Data Privacy Day.

“This Fourth Industrial Revolution, which relies on data and technology, requires policies that respect individual privacy, promote choice and competition while spurring innovation. Legal certainty is crucial for achieving those goals, and it is incumbent that consumers have assurance that their data is safeguarded and used responsibly,” they said.

“Consumers and businesses benefit when there is certainty and consistency regarding laws and enforcement of privacy protections. They lose when they must navigate a confusing and inconsistent patchwork of state laws,” they added.

The groups outlined a familiar framework for privacy law. Individuals should be told when their data is collected, have the ability to correct or delete data, and have the right to opt out of “personalized commercial advertising that is based upon activities across unaffiliated websites, sale of their personal information, and potentially harmful automated profiling that facilitates decisions that produce adverse legal or similarly significant effects on a consumer,” they recommended.

In addition, organizations should limit their data collection “to what is reasonably necessary in relation to the purposes for which that personal data is processed, as disclosed to the consumer,” they said.

Organizations should also protect the data they collect from unauthorized disclosure, the groups said.

A national privacy law should protect small businesses by applying only to companies “that process the personal data of over 200,000 people or those who process the personal data of over 50,000 and derive over 50 percent of revenue from personal data sales,” they said.

Along with federal preemption of state laws, an ideal federal privacy law would be enforced only by the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general, they suggested.

“Federal privacy legislation should encourage cooperation between the business community and government, not promote adversarial action that results in frivolous litigation,” the groups said.

“The Federal Trade Commission and State Attorneys General should have exclusive enforcement authority. Businesses should be given a reasonable opportunity to cure violations of the law that do not result in harm before enforcement actions can be taken,” they added.

The groups that signed the letter represent a variety of sectors, including automotive, retail, hospitality, advertising, manufacturing, and real estate and included the Computer & Communications Industry Association, CTIA, the Information Technology Industry Council, NCTA, and USTelecom.

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