AFSA Lays Out Privacy Principles
AFSA, along with many other trade associations, sent a letter this week to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX), Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA), House Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY), and Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) to clearly lay out a national privacy framework.
The letter states that consumers and businesses benefit when there is certainty and consistency regarding laws and enforcement of privacy protections. They lose when they must navigate a confusing and inconsistent patchwork of state laws. While the United States already has a history of robust privacy protection, Congress should adopt a federal privacy framework that fully preempts state laws for data privacy and security. Federal privacy legislation should focus on six main issues:
- Individual Rights: People should have the right to determine how personal information is used, collected, and shared.
- Transparency: Federal privacy legislation should require companies to publicly disclose their data practices.
- Responsible Data Use: Companies should limit the collection and processing of personal data to reasonably necessary purposes as disclosed to the consumer.
- Preserving Beneficial Data Uses: Federal privacy legislation should explicitly preserve the processing of personal data for such beneficial purposes as offering goods and services; using payment data to complete transactions; maintaining business operations; and offering of bona fide customer loyalty programs.
- Small Business Protections: Small businesses should benefit from federal preemption while also not being required to have the same compliance burden as larger companies.
- Reasonable Enforcement and Collaborative Compliance: Federal privacy legislation should encourage cooperation between the business community and government, not promote adversarial action that results in frivolous litigation.
January 30th, 2025
