Congress Fails To Include A Single Consumer Advocate In Upcoming Privacy Hearing

from the ill-communication dept

As the U.S. ponders what meaningful privacy protections should look like in the Comcast & Cambridge Analytica era, it should probably go without saying that consumers should be part of that conversation. Unsurprisingly, that hasn't really been the case so far. That was exemplified, in part, by the GOP's decision to neuter FCC broadband privacy rules much the same way they dismantled net neutrality: by ignoring any consumer-oriented input that didn't gel with their pre-existing beliefs: namely that all regulation is always bad and a nuanced conversation on the merits of each instance of regulation simply isn't necessary.

When a "conversation" does occur, it tends to be superficial at best, and consumers pretty consistently aren't invited to the table. Case in point: on September 26, the Senate Commerce Committee will be holding a hearing entitled "Examining Safeguards for Consumer Data Privacy." One of the motivating reasons for this hearing, at least according to Senator John Thune, was because "consumers deserve clear answers" on privacy:

"Consumers deserve clear answers and standards on data privacy protection,” said Thune. “This hearing will provide leading technology companies and internet service providers an opportunity to explain their approaches to privacy, how they plan to address new requirements from the European Union and California, and what Congress can do to promote clear privacy expectations without hurting innovation."

It's odd then, that not a single consumer or consumer advocacy group was invited to appear at said hearing, according to the EFF:

"...the Committee is seeking only the testimony of big tech and Internet access corporations: Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Charter Communications, Google, and Twitter. Some of these companies have spent heavily to oppose consumer privacy legislation and have never supported consumer privacy laws. They know policymakers are considering new privacy protections, and are likely to view this hearing as a chance to encourage Congress to adopt the weakest privacy protections possible—and eviscerate stronger state protections at the same time."

Regardless of whether you think new privacy rules are necessary, it goes without saying that consumers should have some voice in the process. Instead, Congress pretty clearly prefers a round table where companies that have spent the better part of the last decade trying to avoid meaningful privacy protections get to dictate the course and cadence of the conversation. AT&T thinks it's a good idea to charge consumers more to protect their own privacy. Google and Facebook, meanwhile, have been working in concert with the telecom sector to scuttle state-level efforts on privacy, no matter what they look like.

Like net neutrality, the Trump era attack on federal consumer protections (like the GOP's dismantling of modest FCC broadband privacy rules last year) has opened the door to numerous states rushing to fill the oversight vacuum. The end result, as we've seen in California, tends to be rushed bills that over-reach (as opposed to the FCC's broadband privacy rules, which took years to craft). All the while, the tech press adores tap dancing around the fact that this current administration and Congressional majority couldn't care less about meaningful consumer protections.

Yes, some of these state efforts are terrible. And yes, it would be easy for federal rules to be equally bad. Especially when the crafting process is largely being driven by cross-industry gamesmanship (the telecom industry, for example, has covertly undermined its alliance with Silicon Valley and is pushing for rules that screw over their video ad competitors like Google, but leave giant ISPs free to do as they wish). That said, it shouldn't be assumed that meaningful privacy protections are impossible, especially given the Congressional status quo shake up that may be just over the horizon.

Another truth the tech press enjoys tap dancing around is the fact that none of the companies invited to this round table want serious privacy rules impacting them, even if they're well-crafted. Informed, educated, empowered consumers are more likely to opt-out of data collection and monetization, and you'd be hard pressed to find any major company that's eager to lose billions as these consumers dodge being tracked and sold to.

Without consumer groups at the table, these are the kind of facts that tend to get lost in the shuffle, and the entire conversation tends to shift to why privacy rules kill innovation and aren't necessary, and not what real privacy consumer protections might look like. Again, because as it stands now, none of the folks at this hearing are actually interested in real rules that protect consumers. They're interested in either no rules at all, or flimsy federal rules that pre-empt more meaningful state-level protections. And many of the politicians at this hearing aren't interested in privacy at all, they're simply eager to hammer Silicon Valley over perceived, frequently hallucinated, partisan censhorship claims that have nothing to do with privacy.

Sure, maybe meaningful privacy protections are impossible, either due to government's failure to adapt to quickly changing markets, or outright corruption. But by omitting consumer groups from the conversation, it's being made abundantly clear that this isn't a serious effort one way or another, with the end result being more of an echo chamber than any meaningful policy discussion.

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Filed Under: congress, consumer advocates, data, data protection, privacy, senate commerce committee