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I'm really glad that US senators are hearing your perspective on these issues. Thank for putting in the time and for your patience with their endless name-mang

I'm really glad that US senators are hearing your perspective on these issues. Thank for putting in the time and for your patience with their endless name-mangling. :) Do you feel any more or less optimistic about what's coming in privacy law, having done this? Any part of the experience that was especially surprising? Edit: wording.

idlewords 7y ago
There seems to be a strong desire for regulation, which gives me some hope. On the other hand, the big tech companies have a massive lobbying operation in D.C., and I'm not naive enough to think my testimony will have much effect. I was ready for the questioning to be far more adversarial. That was a very pleasant surprise. Another surprise was the party imbalance—many of the Republican senators did not attend. My sense is that the current direction in drafting privacy law is "GDPR lite", on the basis that 'everybody owns their data'. I don't think that framing works, but it seems to have captured many of the senators' imaginations. I believe the time pressure for regulation is coming from the California law, which will go into effect in 2020 unless pre-empted by Federal regulation. In principle, the privacy issue cuts across party lines and could have a real bipartisan consensus form around it. In practice, we live in polarized times. I am not optimistic, but we have to try our best.
- kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
  What is likely to happen is that new internet based companies will be snubbed to appease the latest round of pitchfork masses. Much like how Equifax got away without punishment, nothing will be done for the entrenched data broker industry which has been invasively profiling consumers since before the internet was invented. Where Faceboock mostly collects it's data via voluntary submission in exchange for a free service, traditional data brokers get their mitts on it without any consent. They are the real demons. I'm sure their people are working behind the scenes to keep the attention focused on Facebook so that legislative theater can make it look like something is being done without affecting their bottom line.
  - aptwebapps 7y ago
    Without getting into the voluntary/involuntary debate, which I think is a bit murkier than your last paragraph would imply, I think companies like FB are much more dangerous in the long run than companies like Equifax.

idlewords 7y ago

There seems to be a strong desire for regulation, which gives me some hope. On the other hand, the big tech companies have a massive lobbying operation in D.C., and I'm not naive enough to think my testimony will have much effect. I was ready for the questioning to be far more adversarial. That was a very pleasant surprise. Another surprise was the party imbalance—many of the Republican senators did not attend. My sense is that the current direction in drafting privacy law is "GDPR lite", on the basis that 'everybody owns their data'. I don't think that framing works, but it seems to have captured many of the senators' imaginations. I believe the time pressure for regulation is coming from the California law, which will go into effect in 2020 unless pre-empted by Federal regulation. In principle, the privacy issue cuts across party lines and could have a real bipartisan consensus form around it. In practice, we live in polarized times. I am not optimistic, but we have to try our best.

kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
What is likely to happen is that new internet based companies will be snubbed to appease the latest round of pitchfork masses. Much like how Equifax got away without punishment, nothing will be done for the entrenched data broker industry which has been invasively profiling consumers since before the internet was invented. Where Faceboock mostly collects it's data via voluntary submission in exchange for a free service, traditional data brokers get their mitts on it without any consent. They are the real demons. I'm sure their people are working behind the scenes to keep the attention focused on Facebook so that legislative theater can make it look like something is being done without affecting their bottom line.
- aptwebapps 7y ago
  Without getting into the voluntary/involuntary debate, which I think is a bit murkier than your last paragraph would imply, I think companies like FB are much more dangerous in the long run than companies like Equifax.