Alan Butler Executive Director and President | Official website
AT&T has informed its customers of a recent data breach, highlighting ongoing challenges in protecting personal information. Data privacy laws currently exist in 19 states, covering at least 150 million Americans, though these laws vary significantly in scale and scope. Federal regulations address specific areas of privacy, such as medical data or information about children, and agencies like the FCC regulate telecommunications. However, there is no comprehensive federal data privacy law.
Alan Butler, executive director and president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, noted that many state laws are essentially crafted by industries through their lobbyists. "Like many other industries," Butler stated, "the telecommunications industry sees the commercialization of data for advertising uses as an additional revenue source."
