Contact:
Will Dube
ITIF Communications Director
[email protected] (202) 626-5744
WASHINGTON (Feb. 27, 2015) – The Obama Administration sent a far-reaching online privacy proposal called the “Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights Act” to Congress today. In response, Daniel Castro, vice president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, issued the following statement:
“Today’s legislative proposal to enact a set of strict, top-down data privacy rules for the private sector would be a huge step backwards for consumers and businesses. Rather than continue to refine the flexible, sector-specific rules that have allowed the United States to dominate the Internet economy for the past decade, the President and his allies have decided to take a page out of the European playbook best known for stifling innovation and productivity. Under the proposed legislation, companies would need a hall pass to innovate and have their engineers and computer scientists subjected to endless second-guessing by government bureaucrats questioning every new product and feature they wish to develop. The data economy depends on the free flow of information and the President and Congress should be finding opportunities to promote data-driven innovation, not stall it. Rather than use government authority to pave the way for frictionless innovation, this proposal would introduce a dizzying array of potholes, land mines, and other obstacles that will cause companies to pump the brakes on one of the most innovative sectors of the U.S. economy.
Advocates of enacting this type of stringent privacy legislation have failed to articulate the clear harms occurring today that they wish to avoid or provide even a cursory cost-benefit analysis to justify these proposed rules. Consumers today receive an enormous array of benefits from the data economy, including better products and services, lower prices, and more convenience. These benefits will continue to grow in the coming years as more organizations begin leveraging data to make better decisions if the government supports, rather than impedes, this growth. The Obama Administration proposed ideas similar to this when Democrats held Congress and it failed to achieve consensus even then. Rather than further waste political capital on proposals that are dead on arrival, the administration should refocus its attention on a policy agenda that will help address proven consumer privacy concerns, such as enacting federal data breach notification legislation, combating identity theft, and reducing excessive government surveillance.
It is not too late to change course, and ITIF looks forward to working with Congress and the Administration to find the right balance to help keep consumer data safe while preserving innovation in this dynamic area of the U.S. economy.”
