NTIA Requests Comment on Data Privacy, Civil Rights Abuse
NTIA requested comment Wednesday on a potential response to data privacy harms inflicted on “marginalized” and “underserved communities.” NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson said the agency will explore the intersection between privacy and civil rights, including digital discrimination impacting economic and social opportunity.
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Davidson announced the inquiry during an event at Georgetown Law on Wednesday. He said Congress should pass a comprehensive privacy law in 2023. Privacy practices that would have “shocked” people 25 years ago are now commonplace, he said: location data tracking, facial recognition and the creation of detailed online profiles based on internet activity. These impacts are often “most damaging to people of color and other marginalized communities,” he said. The agency also listed the LGBTQ community as vulnerable to discrimination.
NTIA is seeking comment in preparation of a report “analyzing whether and how commercial data practices can negatively affect marginalized or underserved communities, as well as how existing civil rights and privacy laws can be used to address privacy harms,” the agency said. “This report will point to how current resources can be better deployed -- and provide a guide for new privacy proposals.”
Davidson spoke in support of an opinion article from President Joe Biden last week (see 2301110055) that seeks federal limits on how companies collect, use and share data. Some states have taken the lead on privacy, but too many people still lack basic protections, said Davidson. A national standard is a better solution than a state patchwork, he said.
Congress came close, perhaps closer than ever, to passing a comprehensive privacy law with the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (HR-8152) in 2022, he said. Falling short of final passage was “disappointing,” and some may think the window has closed, but “I don’t think that we can give up,” he said. Davidson quoted Martin Luther King Jr., saying, “The time is always right to do what is right.”
The Center for Democracy and Technology believes privacy is one area for potential legislative movement, said Vice President-Policy Samir Jain during a CDT conference call with reporters Wednesday. Jain noted the “overwhelming” bipartisan committee passage of the ADPPA in 2022, continued support from House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Biden’s call for Congress to pass a bill.
“The seeds are there for this to happen,” said Jain. “We don’t know whether House leadership is willing to make this a priority, and there are unknowns on the Senate side as well.” CDT views this as a “critical goal, and we’ll be pushing for this to happen,” he said. Privacy and Data Project co-Director Eric Null said CDT considers last year’s progress on the ADPPA a “significant milestone” in the debate: “Because it’s a compromise bill, with something to like for both sides, it could actually pass a split Congress.”