In NTIA Comments, Industry, Consumer Groups Offer Privacy Views
Industry groups warned NTIA against pushing privacy policies that restrict data collection. Consumer groups argued for more FTC authority and higher standards on data collection consent. Friday was NTIA’s deadline for comment on the administration’s privacy principles effort. The agency will make them publicly available this week, so we asked stakeholders what they filed, and others released them. Some said they were working on them Friday, and others said they don't plan to file.
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U.S. citizens deserve a national privacy framework that provides data protection evenly across industries online and offline, Internet Association CEO Michael Beckerman said. IA echoed the Computer & Communications Industry Association (see 1811080041). Users should have “meaningful control over data they provide to companies online and offline, including the ability to access, correct, delete, and download the data,” Beckerman said.
Shifting from an opt-out consent framework to opt-in, “in which companies can only use data after obtaining affirmative consent from users, will significantly harm advertising-based business models,” said the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. But Congress should support FTC privacy rulemaking authority, which would allow it to establish clear rules that should focus on consumer harm, ITIF said.
Access Now said “meaningful, opt-in consent” can empower users and give more control over data. The FTC needs “significantly greater resources and authority to carry out its extended mission” as the primary privacy regulator, Access Now said. Public Knowledge said a national privacy framework should “account for risks beyond traditional harms, such as financial loss, to include harms such as reputational harm or undermining of public trust.”
NTIA shouldn’t support restrictive consent measures, USTelecom and AT&T said separately. “Opt-in consent allows consumers to have a choice with respect to non-sensitive data without putting unnecessary economic pressure on broadband,” USTelecom said. The federal privacy framework should recognize that “certain types of data collection and use may be subject to the consumer’s implied consent, accompanied by proper notice,” AT&T said. The Free State Foundation also said “overly restrictive privacy policies, such as ubiquitous mandatory opt-in, that are inconsistent with consumers' preferences will reduce the amount of information available to satisfy consumer demands.”
ACT|The App Association supports federal privacy legislation that establishes a national, pre-emptive standard: “Federal sector-specific regulation of privacy, along with a patchwork of state-level laws and regulations, presents a very challenging scenario for a small business innovator.” The Software & Information Industry Association warned against an excessively high bar for getting user consent for data collection. Blocking data collection and use until a user “fully understands the details of all immediate and future uses of personal information and has clearly assented to these uses would be a recipe for thwarting innovation and socially valuable data uses,” SIIA said. Users should be able to make “informed” choices on data collection consent, said BSA|The Software Alliance.