Washington, D.C. – TechNet, the national, bipartisan network of innovation economy CEOs and senior executives, today sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in advance of its hearing on privacy and artificial intelligence. The following statement can be attributed to President and CEO Linda Moore:

“Many of the issues that Congress is examining around artificial intelligence are fundamentally questions of data policy. That is why passing a comprehensive, uniform, and preemptive federal data privacy law is an essential component of an effective and responsible federal AI policy, which we highlight in our federal AI policy framework.

“With 20 states enacting their own comprehensive data privacy laws, the need for one national privacy law that protects all Americans, mitigates abusive lawsuits, and provides certainty to businesses has never been greater. Unfortunately, the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) fails to meet this standard.

“The American Privacy Rights Act includes language that would add to the growing privacy patchwork, not end it, by giving states the green light to pass new variations of privacy laws featuring terms or addressing practices not included in the federal bill. It would also preserve a variety of state laws that will allow states to recreate a privacy patchwork. Without clear federal preemption, a 50-state privacy patchwork would cost the American economy more than $1 trillion over 10 years, with $200 billion being paid by small businesses.

“The bill also invites abusive lawsuits against small businesses by creating an expansive federal private right of action and maintaining several state-specific private rights of action, such as the California Privacy Rights Act and Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act. This further undermines the goal of creating a consistent and uniform national standard.

“The stringent and overbroad data restrictions contained in APRA would also limit consumer choice, impact the ability of companies to provide features and personalized content that consumers value, shift much of the free and open ad-supported internet behind paywalls, and impose significant barriers to entry for startups and small and medium-sized enterprises.

“Instead of passing a privacy law, like APRA, that could weaken America’s global competitiveness and leadership in emerging technologies, like AI, Congress must work together and pass a comprehensive and preemptive federal privacy law that works for all of America and ensures the U.S. wins the next era of innovation.”

Read the letter here.

Background:

  • Since 2018, 210 comprehensive privacy bills have been considered across 46 states.
  • In 2024, 13 states have already introduced 21 comprehensive privacy bills.
  • Twenty state legislatures have passed comprehensive privacy bills: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.
  • A 50-state patchwork of privacy laws would cost the U.S. economy more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years, with more than $200 billion being paid by American small businesses.
  • The average privacy spend of small businesses (50-249 employees) in 2023 was $1.5 million, up from $1.1 million in 2020.
  • More than 83 percent of all voters, including 86 percent of Democrats and 81 percent of Republicans, ranked privacy legislation as a “top” or “important” Congressional priority.
  • The TechNet-led United for Privacy coalition sent a letter to Congress earlier this month urging Congress to pass a single, uniform national privacy standard. The coalition also held an event last summer on Capitol Hill that brought together lawmakers, small business owners, and organizations representing the entire U.S. economy to discuss the need for a federal data privacy law. You can watch the event here.