The senior vice president of global affairs at the Internet Association said on Thursday that now is the prime time to pass federal privacy legislation because it is an entirely bipartisan issue.
“That’s the great news in Washington right now. There isn’t an opposition to federal privacy legislation, and that’s the opportunity,” Melika Carroll, whose association represents numerous leading internet companies, told Hill.TV’s Buck Sexton and Jamal Simmons on “Rising.”
“Members from both sides of the aisle in both chambers on all the relevant committees have said that they want federal privacy legislation,” Carroll continued.
“All of industry is supportive of federal privacy legislation, even the American Chamber of Commerce is working on this issue with companies outside of the tech industry because everybody uses data,” she said, adding that the issue also has the support of public interest groups.
Republican and Democratic senators have made combatting data breaches a top priority, especially in the wake of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and John Kennedy (R-La.) have all introduced various pieces of privacy legislation.
Multiple tech giants, including Facebook, have recently grappled with their own data-handling controversies.
— Julia Manchester
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