The president and CEO of a network of technology CEOs and senior executives promoted the need for a federal privacy law ahead of a Congressional subcommittee hearing on the role of data brokers in the digital economy.

TechNet is pleased with the progress toward a federal data privacy law regarding the collecting and selling of people's data during the 118th Congress, according to an April 18 news release. The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing, Who is Selling Your Data: A Critical Examination of the Role of Data Brokers in the Digital Economy, was to be held April 19.

“Lawmakers rightly recognize that the need for one federal data privacy law has never been greater," TechNet President and CEO Linda Moore said in the release. "Americans deserve to have their data privacy protected no matter where they live, and businesses need certainty about their responsibilities so they can spend their resources on creating jobs rather than paying legal bills. The emerging 50-state data privacy patchwork is having a chilling effect on the economy and confusing consumers who just want their private personal data protected and handled consistently from one transaction to the next.”

A federal data privacy law could ensure “Americans have the right to access, correct and delete their personal data,” the release said.

According to the release, 178 privacy bills have been introduced in 45 states since 2018. Additionally, 27 states introduced 55 comprehensive privacy bills in the last year. California, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Utah and Virginia consumers are to be regulated by different privacy laws.

"A 50-state patchwork of privacy laws would cost our economy more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years, with more than $200 billion being paid by American small businesses,” the release said.

Moore noted they are happy to see "continued momentum to get a federal data privacy law across the finish line during the 118th Congress.”