TechNet leaders are promoting the need for a federal privacy law ahead of a Congressional subcommittee hearing on privacy shortfalls.
TechNet is a national, bipartisan network of innovation economy CEOs and senior executives, according to an April 26 news release. This push for data privacy came before the Subcommittee on Innovation, Data and Commerce hearing titled Addressing America’s Data Privacy Shortfalls: How a National Standard Fills Gaps to Protect Americans’ Personal Information.
"The growing patchwork of state privacy laws is confusing consumers and having a chilling effect on our economy, especially for small businesses that struggle to keep up with an ever-changing compliance landscape," TechNet President and CEO Linda Moore said in the release.
Moore noted Montana, Indiana and Tennessee recently "approved omnibus data privacy bills that will soon be sent to the governors for their signature," the release reported. Additionally, Iowa signed an omnibus data privacy bill into law in March.
"If this trend continues, a 50-state patchwork would cost our economy more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years, with more than $200 billion being paid by American small businesses," Moore added, according to the release.
Moore said “now is the time for Congress to act” on a federal privacy law because the need “has never been greater,” the release reported.
Moore added TechNet “will continue to work with lawmakers from both parties to pass a federal privacy law that protects Americans’ data no matter where they live and gives businesses certainty about their responsibilities so they can spend their resources on creating jobs rather than paying legal bills,” the release said.
A number of small-business owners are speaking out to report how difficult it is navigating a 50-state patchwork of privacy laws and that it is hurting their businesses, according to the release. The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Phoenix Business Journal, the Arizona Capitol Times, the Austin Chronicle and the Dallas Business Journal have reported on such claims.
"These small business owners all agree that a standardized federal privacy law would lower costs for their companies, protect their customers and strengthen our economy," the release said.
