Washington, D.C. – TechNet, the national, bipartisan network of innovation economy CEOs and senior executives, today issued the following statement, attributed to TechNet President and CEO Linda Moore, following today’s hearing in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce on a national data privacy standard:

“As we heard throughout today’s hearing, the need for a federal privacy law has never been greater. Witnesses and lawmakers spoke about how the growing patchwork of state privacy laws is confusing consumers and having a chilling effect on our economy, especially for small businesses. Since 2018, 167 privacy bills have been introduced in 44 states. This year alone, 21 states have introduced 44 privacy bills. A 50-state patchwork would cost our economy more than $1 trillion over 10 years, with $200 million being paid by America’s small businesses.

“We need one federal data privacy law that mitigates abusive lawsuits against small businesses and gives companies certainty about their responsibilities so they can spend their resources on creating jobs rather than paying legal bills. A federal privacy law must also ensure all Americans have the right to access, correct, and delete their data and give them assurances their data is protected no matter their age or where they live.

“Today showed that both parties are committed to action and willing to compromise, and we hope this momentum continues. We applaud the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee for holding this important hearing and remain optimistic that a bipartisan federal privacy law that works for all of America can be passed and signed into law this Congress.”

For more information, go to technet.org/privacy.

Background:

  • Since 2018, 167 comprehensive privacy bills have been considered across 44 states, including 44 bills filed in 21 states just this year. By the end of the year, consumers and businesses in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia will all be regulated by different privacy laws.
  • If this trend continues, a 50-state patchwork of privacy laws would cost our economy more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years, with more than $200 billion being paid by American small businesses.
  • Last year, Congress made significant strides in passing comprehensive federal privacy legislation. In fact, a federal privacy bill passed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee by a bipartisan vote of 53-2. The bill still needs further refinements to address several key issues, including mitigating abusive lawsuits on small businesses and ensuring all Americans and businesses are uniformly covered; however, this was a watershed moment for enacting a uniform federal standard and provides momentum for action on this critical issue.
  • 86 percent of Democrats and 81 percent of Republicans said Congress should make privacy a “top” or “important” priority.