Washington, D.C. – TechNet, the national bipartisan network of innovation economy CEOs and senior executives, has sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation ahead of its hearing on privacy and artificial intelligence. The following statement is attributed to President and CEO Linda Moore:

“Many of the issues that Congress is examining around artificial intelligence are fundamentally questions of data policy. That is why passing a comprehensive, uniform, and preemptive federal data privacy law is an essential component of an effective and responsible federal AI policy, which we highlight in our federal AI policy framework.

“With 20 states enacting their own comprehensive data privacy laws, the need for one national privacy law that protects all Americans, mitigates abusive lawsuits, and provides certainty to businesses has never been greater. Unfortunately, the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) fails to meet this standard.

“The American Privacy Rights Act includes language that would add to the growing privacy patchwork, not end it, by giving states the green light to pass new variations of privacy laws featuring terms or addressing practices not included in the federal bill. It would also preserve a variety of state laws that will allow states to recreate a privacy patchwork. Without clear federal preemption, a 50-state privacy patchwork would cost the American economy more than $1 trillion over 10 years, with $200 billion being paid by small businesses.

“The bill also invites abusive lawsuits against small businesses by creating an expansive federal private right of action and maintaining several state-specific private rights of action, such as the California Privacy Rights Act and Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act. This further undermines the goal of creating a consistent and uniform national standard.

“The stringent and overbroad data restrictions contained in APRA would also limit consumer choice, impact the ability of companies to provide features and personalized content that consumers value, shift much of the free and open ad-supported internet behind paywalls, and impose significant barriers to entry for startups and small and medium-sized enterprises.

“Instead of passing a privacy law like APRA that could weaken America’s global competitiveness and leadership in emerging technologies like AI, Congress must work together and pass a comprehensive and preemptive federal privacy law that works for all of America and ensures the U.S. wins the next era of innovation.”

Since 2018, 210 comprehensive privacy bills have been considered across 46 states. In 2024 alone, 13 states have introduced 21 comprehensive privacy bills. Twenty state legislatures have passed comprehensive privacy bills: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware Florida Indiana Iowa Kentucky Maryland Minnesota Montana Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey Oregon Rhode Island Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia A 50-state patchwork of privacy laws would cost more than $1 trillion over ten years with more than $200 billion being paid by American small businesses The average spend on compliance for small businesses (50-249 employees) was $1.5 million in 2023 up from $1.1 million in 2020 More than 83 percent voters including Democrats Republicans ranked legislation top important priority TechNet-led United coalition sent letter Congress urging single uniform standard held event last summer Capitol Hill brought lawmakers business owners organizations representing entire economy discuss need data You can watch event here