Several privacy issues, including breach notification and data collection, were the raised at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade today. The hearing was called on the near 100 year anniversary of the establishment of the Federal Trade Commission and featured testimony from FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez and three of her colleagues.
Commissioner Ramirez called for legislation to establish baseline privacy requirements for businesses which collect consumer data. She also indicated that the Commission may soon issue a report based on a study it is conducting regarding data brokers. NCISS is concerned with limitations on the collection of data. Although most attention in Congress relates to Internet tracking and the use of data by advertisers, legislation often is not limited to online information and could restrict all data collection.
Representative John Dingell (D-MI), former chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, asked a series of questions of Commissioner Ramirez regarding data breach notification. He elicited her support for a federal requirement to notify consumers of breaches that would preempt state laws. Yet she supported enforcement of the statute by state attorneys general.
NCISS is watching data breach legislation carefully because previous efforts by the Energy and Commerce Committee regulated data brokers and could limit the use of pretext for obtaining consumers' personal information.
Subcommittee Chairman Lee Terry (R-NE) questioned duplication of jurisdiction between the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and FTC. He did not indicate whether the Subcommittee will be considering privacy legislation in the near future.
Below is a link to the hearing information:
http://energycommerce.house.gov/hearing/ftc-100-where-do-we-go-here
Larry Sabbath
