Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Advocate for Meaningful Federal Privacy Protections
May 8, 2019The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) has been a strong advocate calling for Congress to pass broad national data privacy legislation. All Americans, regardless of where they live, deserve the same high level of data privacy protections.
In the past week, we’ve seen House Energy and Commerce Committee members emphasize the urgency for a federal data privacy law. In a Morning Consult op-ed, 4 Warnings About What a Patchwork of State Privacy Laws Could Mean for You, Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) states that a patchwork of state privacy laws could result in significantly increased compliance costs, threaten consumer data security and hinder seamless online consumer experiences.
Representative Robert Latta (R-OH) expressed similar concerns. In an op-ed published in The Hill, A National Data Privacy Standard Must Be Addressed by Congress This Year, Latta calls for a federal privacy measure that prioritizes consumer transparency through one set of data privacy rules.
ANA is pleased to see this growing interest in Congress to pass broad federal privacy and data security legislation. The right approach to data privacy protection will only be achieved through a federally backed policy, not a patchwork of inconsistent state-based privacy laws. We applaud Representatives Latta and McMorris Rogers for recognizing data privacy as a top congressional priority.
ANA hopes that these congressional calls to action foster increased support for a federal data privacy law that preempts state privacy laws. ANA will continue to help foster these efforts through the recently launched Privacy for America Coalition. A link to PFA’s core principles can be found here.