CES 2024: Industry Wants Federal Data Privacy Law

LAS VEGAS, January 12, 2024 – Industry stakeholders called for federal data privacy legislation at CES on Thursday.

“I think oftentimes companies can be in the position of opposing additional regulation at the federal level,” said Melanie Tiano, director of federal regulatory affairs at T-Mobile. “But this is probably one of those areas where that’s not the case, in part because of the flurry of activity going on at the state level, which makes compliance in the U.S. marketplace extraordinarily confusing and difficult.”

The New Jersey legislature cleared one such bill on Monday. If that’s signed into law by the state’s governor, it would bring the number up to 13. Federal efforts, notably the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, have stalled in recent years.

“We will continue to be seriously committed to getting legislation done in a bipartisan way. That’s not always easy right now, but we’re continuing to work on that” said Tim Kurth, chief counsel for the House Innovation, Data and Commerce Subcommittee.

Simone Hall Wood, privacy and public policy manager at Meta, said “privacy regulation should not inhibit beneficial uses of data.” The company has argued it has a legitimate interest in data use practices that the European Union has found to be out of compliance with its data privacy law, the GDPR.

Industry groups, including the Consumer Technology Association, which runs the CES conference, have advocated for a light-touch privacy law in the United States, in contrast with the more comprehensive European standard.

Kurth had similar thoughts Thursday, saying the GDPR “really hurt startups and really hurt innovations.”

Still, Woods said establishing a uniform standard is something the law does well.

“It sets certainty across the marketplace for what privacy protections look like for consumers. And so that aspect of it is positive,” she said.