Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy, D-Vt., said it’s “essential”...

release Monday about the importance of Data Privacy Day. Leahy said he looks forward to working with colleagues on House Judiciary to update the 1986 law “so that it keeps pace with the many new threats to our privacy.” The co-chairmen of the Congressional Privacy Caucus, Reps. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Joe Barton, R-Texas, separately said “consumers should have the final say about how their personal information is used,” in a joint news release. “Companies should not track or collect personal data without user knowledge and consent. … Children deserve the strongest protections when they go online and we encourage parents to ensure appropriate online interactions,” they said. Industry groups used Data Privacy Day to encourage lawmakers to reform the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Reforming the law “is the right thing to do for business, it is the right thing to do for innovation, and it is the right thing to do for civil liberties,” said Ed Black, president of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, in a statement. Additionally, the “outdated privacy laws are hampering the development of one of the few growing sectors in the American economy -- cloud computing,” as lacking protections turns people away from the “increased productivity, security, and cost savings that come with deploying cloud solutions,” he said. “Data stored in the cloud should receive the same protections as data stored at home on a PC,” said Daniel Castro, a senior analyst with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, in a statement: “Policymakers concerned about privacy should make modernizing ECPA their top legislative priority.” Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said it’s important for lawmakers to “work to strengthen privacy protections for consumers this year.” His comment came in a tweet Monday evening. House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Lee Terry, R-Neb., in a joint news release separately urged U.S. citizens to be “vigilant in protecting their online data and privacy.” “We held a number of hearings last Congress examining online privacy and consumer protection issues, and the committee will continue these efforts in the new Congress to protect consumers without harming innovation,” said Upton. Terry added: “Our challenge as lawmakers is to protect individual privacy without undercutting the Internet economy, innovators and application developers.”