51 Corporations Tell Congress: A Federal Privacy Law Is Needed. 145 Corporations Tell The U.S. Senate: Inaction On Gun Violence Is 'Simply Unacceptable'

Last week, several of the largest corporations petitioned the United States government for federal legislation in two key topics: consumer privacy and gun reform.

First, the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) at 51 corporations sent a jointly signed letter to leaders in Congress asking for a federal privacy law to supersede laws emerging in several states. ZD Net reported:

"The open-letter was sent on behalf of Business Roundtable, an association made up of the CEOs of America's largest companies... CEOs blamed a patchwork of differing privacy regulations that are currently being passed in multiple US states, and by several US agencies, as one of the reasons why consumer privacy is a mess in the US. This patchwork of privacy regulations is creating problems for their companies, which have to comply with an ever-increasing number of laws across different states and jurisdictions. Instead, the 51 CEOs would like one law that governs all user privacy and data protection across the US, which would simplify product design, compliance, and data management."

The letter was sent to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, Senator Roger F. Wicker (Chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation), Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives), Kevin McCarthy (Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives), Frank Pallone, Jr. (Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce in the U.S. House of Representatives), and other ranking politicians.

The letter stated, in part:

"Consumers should not and cannot be expected to understand rules that may change depending upon the state in which they reside, the state in which they are accessing the internet, and the state in which the company’s operation is providing those resources or services. Now is the time for Congress to act and ensure that consumers are not faced with confusion about their rights and protections based on a patchwork of inconsistent state laws. Further, as the regulatory landscape becomes increasingly fragmented and more complex, U.S. innovation and global competitiveness in the digital economy are threatened. "

That sounds fair and noble enough. After writing this blog for more than 12 years, I have learned that details matters. Who writes the proposed legislation and the details in that legislation matter. It is too early to tell if the proposed legislation is weaker or stronger than what some states have implemented.

Some of the notable companies which signed the joint letter included AT&T, Amazon, Comcast, Dell Technologies, FedEx, IBM, Qualcomm, Salesforce, SAP, Target, and Walmart. Signers from the financial services sector included American Express, Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, MasterCard, State Farm Insurance, USAA, and Visa. Several notable companies did not sign the letter: Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Verizon.

Second, The New York Times reported that executives from 145 companies sent a joint letter to members of the U.S. Senate demanding that they take action on gun violence. The letter stated, in part (emphasis added):

"... we are writing to you because we have a responsibility and obligation to stand up for the safety of our employees ,customers, and all Americans in the communities we serve across the country. Doing nothing about America's gun violence crisis is simply unacceptable and it is time to stand with the American public on gun safety. Gun violence in America is not inevitable; it's preventable. There are steps Congress can, and must take to prevent and reduce gun violence. We need our lawmakers to support common sense gun laws... we urge the Senate to stand with the American public and take action on gun safety by passing a bill to require background checks on all gun sales and a strong Red Flag law that would allow courts to issue life-saving extreme risk protection orders..."

Some of the notable companies which signed the letter included Airbnb, Bain Capital, Bloomberg LP, Conde Nast, DICK'S Sporting Goods, Gap Inc., Levi Strauss & Company, Lyft, Pinterest, Publicis Groupe, Reddit, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Twitter, Uber, and Yelp.

Earlier this year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to address gun violence. So far, the U.S. Senate has done nothing. Representative Kathy Castor (14th District in Florida), explained the actions the House took in 2019:

"The Bipartisan Background Checks Act that I championed is a commonsense step to address gun violence and establish measures that protect our community and families. America is suffering from a long-term epidemic of gun violence – each year, 120,000 Americans are injured and 35,000 die by firearms. This bill ensures that all gun sales or transfers are subject to a background check, stopping senseless violence by individuals to themselves and others... Additionally, the Democratic House passed H.R. 1112 – the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019 – which addresses the Charleston Loophole that currently allows gun dealers to sell a firearm to dangerous individuals if the FBI background check has not been completed within three business days. H.R. 1112 makes the commonsense and important change to extend the review period to 10 business days..."

Findings from a February, 2018 Quinnipiac national poll:

"American voters support stricter gun laws 66 - 31 percent, the highest level of support ever measured by the independent Quinnipiac University National Poll, with 50 - 44 percent support among gun owners and 62 - 35 percent support from white voters with no college degree and 58 - 38 percent support among white men... Support for universal background checks is itself almost universal, 97 - 2 percent, including 97 - 3 percent among gun owners. Support for gun control on other questions is at its highest level since the Quinnipiac University Poll began focusing on this issue in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre: i) 67 - 29 percent for a nationwide ban on the sale of assault weapons; ii) 83 - 14 percent for a mandatory waiting period for all gun purchases. It is too easy to buy a gun in the U.S. today..."

Comments

[George]

The Internet Association, a trade group of tech companies and advertisers, has also joined in the call for a national federal privacy law by running -- surprise -- an advertising campaign. MediaPost reported:

"The campaign is now running on radio and Twitter, and is expected to soon roll out on Facebook and YouTube. The initiative is mainly targeted to people in the D.C. area and California, where a sweeping new privacy law is slated to take effect next year. The Internet Association, which represents Google, Facebook, Amazon and other tech companies, first called for a national privacy law last year."

Source:
https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/340877/silicon-valley-launches-campaign-to-quash-state-pr.html

Funny how some of the companies now calling for a federal privacy law were some of the same companies that supported the FCC repeal of broadband privacy and net neutrality. Clearly, there is plenty of news to come about this.

George
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