Senate examines data, privacy in coronavirus ‘paper hearing’

The Senate Commerce Committee will hold one of the first known congressional “paper hearings” to discuss the use of personal data during the coronavirus outbreak, which has forced Capitol Hill to move much of its business online. The session, as the name indicates, will be carried out entirely through written statements, questions and responses set to be posted online, with witnesses having four days to respond to queries from lawmakers after the end of business April 9. 

Some say holding a virtual hearing should be a cinch for Commerce. “It’s sad on many levels…Congress has had years to develop the capacity for live virtual hearings,” said Daniel Castro, vice president at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation think tank. He added that the topic of the hearing brought a certain level of irony to the low-tech format. “The worst part is that this is a hearing about big data and tech, and holding this hearing on paper smacks of Luddism,” he said.