Privacy Can Bridge DC’s Partisan Gap

Privacy laws should treat companies at the internet edge the same as the internet service providers that are largely prevented from accessing these vast swaths of personal data. The task for Congress is to create a straightforward set of privacy rights and company obligations that applies across the internet continuum, enhancing consumer understanding and confidence. In a national internet marketplace that is truly interstate in function, contrary state privacy laws should be disallowed. Fortunately, there is already a federal agency with expertise that can ensure that Congress’s goal is carried out: the Federal Trade Commission, which among all of the federal agencies has the most extensive experience overseeing consumer privacy.

[Former Rep Rick Boucher (D-VA) is honorary chairman of the Internet Innovation Alliance.]