Alan McQuinn

While there is a lot of misinformation circling about the Libra system, the goals of an open, general-purpose financial system are admirable. Policymakers should support these systems, whether they are facilitated by tech companies like Facebook, cryptocurrency businesses, banks, or any other organization.

Policymakers can and should do more to support blockchain innovation and adoption, such as ensuring regulations are targeted and flexible, so as to encourage blockchain experimentation.

Shouldn’t there be a law to make internet companies pay us for all the data they collect? It’s one of those appealing-at-first ideas that is gaining traction — echoed most recently by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who called for a “data dividend” in his first State of the State address. But as Daniel Castro and Alan McQuinn write for the Sacramento Bee, the answer is no.

If countries do not show proper restraint, they can easily sabotage the global Internet by imposing unreasonable obligations on companies and setting up scenarios where companies are forced into a no-win situation of having to comply with conflicting laws.

Congress should repeal and replace existing federal privacy laws with a common set of protections. We need comprehensive data privacy legislation that preempts state laws, improves transparency requirements, strengthens enforcement, and establishes a clear set of data privacy rights for Americans based on the sensitivity of the data and the context in which it is collected.

The United States and likeminded countries should not repeat Australia’s mistakes and should instead embrace strong encryption—not try to cripple it.

In an explainer for RealClearPolicy, Alan McQuinn defines data privacy, explains the U.S. approach to data privacy in the private sector, and outlines policy goals Congress should consider.

Congress has taken proactive steps for both drones and supersonic flight with the FAA Reauthorization Act, enabling these U.S. industries to remain competitive and aerospace innovation to proceed apace writes Alan McQuinn in Innovation Files.

The lesson for EU policymakers is clear: do not get seduced by the idea that stringent privacy regulation is a shortcut for digital growth. Enacting even stricter data protection rules, such as the pending ePrivacy Regulation, will come with costs that will hurt not only the EU digital ecosystem but also EU digital consumers.

As Nigel Cory and Alan McQuinn write in The Hill, the U.S. government should use CLOUD Act agreements to push back on foreign practices that force U.S. firms to store data locally.

Americans have made their opinion clear: their privacy concerns are decreasing even without additional privacy laws. The question remains: will policymakers listen?

EU policymakers created the GDPR to protect an individual’s right to privacy—a right that they see worth protecting at any cost. However, its creators did nothing to prevent these costs from being levied on non-Europeans. Policymakers around the world should step in to ensure that if Europe wants privacy, it must pay its own bill.