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US lawmakers kick off debate over online privacy
US lawmakers opened a debate Tuesday over privacy legislation in the first step by Congress toward regulation addressing a series of troublesome data protection abuses by tech firms.
Most companies have said they would accept new federal legislation in the wake of bombshell revelations about Facebook and other online platforms' mishandling of users' personal data.
Lawmakers face several key choices, including whether to adopt the model in the European Union's data protection rules, and whether to pre-empt the strict privacy rules adopted by California.
A House of Representatives committee hearing on Tuesday is to be followed by a Senate panel Wednesday where industry and interest groups will make recommendations on US legislation.
Legislators are likely to find broad agreement on the need for greater transparency regarding the collection and sharing of data, and on tougher enforcement for violations.
Beyond that, sharp differences exist on how tightly tech firms should be reined in.
"A federal law must include basic rights for individuals to access, correct, delete and port their personal data," said Nuala O'Connor, president of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a digital rights group, in testimony prepared for the House Energy and Commerce panel.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 27 2019, @01:56PM (2 children)
As long as there is one, you have none.
You shouldn't trust companies, corporations and conglomerates anyway. They are not trustworthy and proved it numerous times, deliberately compromising your privacy/unintentionally leaking your data because of incompetence.
Just because there are laws doesn't mean they will follow laws, as long as they can lobby and corrupt and function as storefronts of three-letter agencies. Not even talking about possible loopholes and backups.
(Score: 4, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday February 27 2019, @02:02PM
You know we're a corporation here at SN, right? The 'PBC' in SoylentNews PBC stands for Public Benefit Corporation. We have a board and a couple of shareholders and everything. Hell, we even exploit unpaid labor.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 27 2019, @07:39PM
instead of the government doing it's job to hold companies accountable for fraud and broken laws/contracts (one of the few legitimate functions of government) they claim they need to be rewarded for not doing their jobs with more power. dumb people vote for it every time and the government gets bigger and more powerful.