Billy Long: We need a national privacy standard

(From Seventh District Congressman Billy Long)

Privacy is something that everyone values deeply. It is something we all desire; but with advancements in technology, privacy is something that many people have had to give up. 

The apps you download, the type of phone you use, the websites you visit, where you swipe your credit card, the purchases you make online, and more, all say something about you. Some companies are straightforward about what they will do with your data, others take your data and sell it to a third party. There is no telling what these companies can do with your information because there is no national privacy standard. It is high time that Congress does something about this.

Protecting consumer privacy and establishing a national privacy standard is something that both Democrats and Republicans agree on. 

Unfortunately, in today’s Washington, even non-partisan issues have become partisan. Despite consensus between Democrats and Republicans that there must be a national privacy standard, Democrats went ahead and passed a bill to grant the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), who would have enforcement over how companies use consumer data, broad authority to seek monetary compensation from companies. This is a huge missed opportunity to create a national privacy standard to protect consumers.

Of course, the FTC needs authority to punish companies that are abusing their customer’s data and violating their privacy but granting the FTC broad powers to collect monetary compensation for consumers without any privacy standard to follow is not very productive. 

But, in the spirit of hyper-partisanship, Democrats moved forward without any sort of privacy standard included in their legislation. This is a straightforward issue where there is consensus, but Democrats again did not want to work across the aisle.

With so much consumer data out there, Congress must work together and pass a national privacy standard. This standard would protect consumers and ensure that corporations are not using the data they collect in a fraudulent manner. 

With a national standard to follow, consumers would know that their privacy is protected instead of having to rely on the thousands of different privacy standards that companies set for themselves. This is really a common sense and bipartisan issue, which makes the Democrat’s decision to move forward with a bill to just grant a federal agency broad powers rather than put the work and time in to create a privacy standard extremely disheartening.

I and my Republican colleagues in both the House of Representatives and the Senate believe a national privacy standard is needed now. Consumers deserve peace of mind and the FTC needs a standard by which to punish companies and collect compensation. I support a national privacy standard, it is time Democrats do the same.