Congress Contemplates Privacy Protections

U.S. lawmakers considered legislation Tuesday (March 1) designed to protect online users.

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce invited consumer groups, policy makers and law enforcement officials to discuss the Banning Surveillance Advertising Act of 2022, Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2022 and the Digital Services Oversight and Safety Act of 2022, according to the International Association of Privacy Professionals, a New Hampshire-based nonprofit trade group.

“The time to regulate is now,” said Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee Chairwoman Jan Schakowsky. Consumers want to go online without being exploited, the Illinois Democrat added.

Lawmakers sought input from advocates on how these measures would increase the transparency and accountability of BigTech platforms.

Congress must decide whether a comprehensive privacy law is needed and whether the internet would “break” if a surveillance-based advertising ban was enacted.

Proponents of the bill said the internet will not suffer without the use of surveillance-based ads.

Duck Duck Go Senior Public Policy Manager Katherine McInnis said her company is proof firms can be profitable without surveilling users for advertising profit.

The Pennsylvania-based company provides an internet search engine that emphasizes protecting searchers’ privacies. She said the company earns $100 million in revenue annually.

“If data collection for targeted ads were banned, access to personal data would no longer determine whether companies succeed or fail in the advertising market, meaning that more companies would be able to compete against Google and Facebook’s ad duopoly,” she told lawmakers.

Last month, PYMNTS reported data breaches in Europe can be extremely expensive, up to 4% of a company’s annual turnover, thanks to the General Data Protection Regulation.

Read more:  Complying With EU Data Laws Is Becoming Increasingly Complex 

Fines for data breaches exceeded $1.1 billion in 2021, with Amazon leading the scoreboard with a staggering $867 million fine.