The Congressional Bipartisan Privacy Caucus met today with a group of data brokers, FTC Commissioners and privacy advocates to discuss how consumer information is collected and used by brokers.

Co-Chairman Representative Ed Markey (D-MA) said he wanted to "shed light on an industry that has dossiers on millions of Americans." He argued that there are gaps in existing law that should be closed and that consumers "should have control over their personal information."

The meeting focused primarily, but not exclusively, on the online collection of personal data. Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz expressed concern about "invisible data catchers" and called for more transparency. He was joined on the panel by FTC Commissioner Julie Brill who asked the group how to define the term "data broker."

Experian Senior Vice President Tony Hadley said that even the most narrow definitions of data broker in current legislation would sweep in thousands of entities. This led to a discussion of what group of brokers should be covered by any legislation or regulation.

Representative Markey and Commissioner Brill asked if Congress should start by only regulating the top 100-300 brokers. Industry representatives suggested that rather than broadly regulating the collection of data, regulators should decide what uses of data require control. Hadley pointed out that the Fair Credit Report already covers credit and employment issues and Gramm Leach Bliley covers fraud and authentication issues.

A representative of the Direct Marketing Association said it would be a mistake to develop "one size fits all" regulations on such a complex industry. Consumer advocate Ed Mierzwinski suggested Congress could consider limiting regulation large brokers while allowing the FTC to bring enforcement actions against smaller "bad actors" when appropriate.

NCISS is concerned about legislation which would limit the collection of data or regulate data brokers. Some definitions of data broker could be broad enough to include private investigators. Limitations on the collection or use of personal data by brokers could also restrict their ability to sell critical information to investigators.

Representative Markey made clear that he will be pursuing this issue in the next Congress.  The Congressional Privacy Caucus is co-chaired by Republican Joe Barton of Texas. 

NCISS will advise Congress of our concerns with this issue and keep you apprised of developments.