NACS, along with a list of other business associations, have issued a joint letter of encouragement to Congress to work on a national privacy law , the SECURE Data Act. The legislation seeks to create a national set of privacy rights for Americans and set reasonable data security standards.
Congress has made efforts toward the goal of national privacy law for decades, and states have filled the void by creating a patchwork of different laws that can be challenging for businesses to follow.
“This is an encouraging step,” said Doug Kantor, NACS general counsel. “We look forward to working with the House Energy and Commerce Committee to move privacy legislation and continue to refine it so that we have a strong national law in place.”
NACS is a founding member of the Main Street Privacy Coalition, a group which champions a set of principles to ensure privacy legislation is workable for Main Street businesses, which must deal with customers as well as with major technology companies to properly serve customers and protect their privacy. The group is dedicated to ensuring that Main Street is not held liable for any shortcomings that the technology, telecommunications or financial services industries might have on privacy.
NACS and its cosigners jointly issued the following statement on H.R. 8413, the SECURE Data Act :
We welcome the introduction of comprehensive legislation that would establish a single national privacy standard, building upon state privacy frameworks with proven, strong consumer protections developed on a bipartisan basis. A clear nationwide standard would strengthen trust, help individuals exercise meaningful control over their information and give businesses the certainty needed to innovate, protect data and drive growth. The bill would end a confusing patchwork that harms consumers and small businesses.
The business community thanks Chairman Brett Guthrie, Vice Chairman John Joyce and the members of the data privacy working group for their leadership on this critical issue. We will continue collaborating with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle and the Administration as this essential legislation moves forward.