CAGW Submits Comments to NTIA on Consumer Privacy

WASHINGTON--()--Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) President Tom Schatz submitted recommendations to the National Telecommunications Information Administration in the Department of Commerce on ways to advance consumer privacy while ensuring continued prosperity and innovation.

These recommendations were in response to the Request for Comments on Developing the Administration’s Approach to Consumer Privacy (Docket Number: 180821780-8780-01).

The comments read, in part:

“Policymakers and individual Americans have become increasingly concerned about the amount of personal information held by online platforms, e-commerce sites, internet service providers (ISPs), banking institutions, retailers and many others, and how such information is being used for data analytics, online advertising, and targeted messaging without adequate transparency or consumer choice by social media companies and online search engines. This concern was underscored after the 2016 elections when it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica used ill-gotten personal data for targeted political ads.”

“On June 28, 2018, the California Consumer Privacy Act was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown. The bill, which was rushed through the legislature in a few days, imposes extremely onerous requirements on how companies must store and provide access to consumers’ personal information, as well as harsh restrictions on the types of product and service options and discounts companies may offer to their customers. Other states have enacted or are reviewing laws that would purportedly protect personal information, covering issues such as children’s online privacy, website privacy policies, and monitoring employee e-mail communications. There is an overriding concern that without the adoption of a consistent national privacy protection regime that preempts state and local laws, more states will follow California’s example, further complicating the privacy regulatory environment that companies, large and small, must negotiate.”

CAGW offered recommendations in the following areas of consumer-based privacy:

1. National Privacy Framework

2. Consumer Choice and Control

3. Transparency

4. Data Minimization and Contextuality

5. Flexibility

6. Data Security and Breach Notification

For more information, read CAGW’s full comments.

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.

Contacts

Citizens Against Government Waste
Curtis Kalin, 202-467-5318

Release Summary

Citizens Against Government Waste submitted recommendations to the Department of Commerce on ways to advance consumer privacy.

Contacts

Citizens Against Government Waste
Curtis Kalin, 202-467-5318