Washington, D.C. – TechNet, the national, bipartisan network of innovation economy CEOs and senior executives, urged Congress to pass a federal privacy law after Texas became the sixth state to enact a data privacy law this year, joining Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, and Tennessee. California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia have also enacted privacy laws. The following statement can be attributed to TechNet President and CEO Linda Moore:

“The patchwork of state privacy laws continues to grow, with Texas becoming the eleventh state to pass a privacy law and the sixth to pass a privacy law this year.  This is confusing consumers and having a chilling effect on our economy, especially for small businesses that struggle to keep up with an ever-changing compliance landscape. If this trend continues, a 50-state patchwork would cost our economy more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years, with more than $200 billion being paid by American small businesses.

“The time for Congress to act is now. Instead of laws that depend on where you live or where you operate, we need one federal privacy law that ensures all Americans have the right to access, correct, and delete their data while also providing businesses certainty about their responsibilities so they can spend their resources on creating jobs rather than paying legal bills.

“Consensus in Washington, D.C. is hard to come by, but passing a federal data privacy law has the support of 83 percent of all voters, including 86 percent of Democrats and 81 percent of Republicans. Congress made great progress last year, and now is the time to seize that momentum. With the state patchwork continuing to grow, the need has never been more urgent.”

For more information, go to technet.org/privacy.

Background:

  • Since 2018, 182 comprehensive privacy bills have been considered across 46 states, including 59 bills filed in 27 states just this year.
  • 11 states have enacted comprehensive privacy bills: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.
  • If this trend continues, a 50-state patchwork of privacy laws would cost our 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) is $2 million, up from $1.1 million in 2020.
  • Last year, Congress made significant strides in passing comprehensive federal privacy legislation. A federal privacy bill passed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee by a bipartisan vote of 53-2 on July 20, 2022. The bill still needs further refinements to address several key issues, including mitigating abusive lawsuits on small businesses and ensuring all Americans and businesses are uniformly covered; however, this was a watershed moment for enacting a uniform federal standard and provides momentum for action on this critical issue.
  • 86 percent of Democrats and 81 percent of Republicans said Congress should make privacy a “top” or “important” priority.
  • TechNet has been a national leader in calling for federal privacy legislation. TechNet’s initiative, United for Privacy, has brought together partners across all sectors of the economy to advocate for legislation that protects consumers and American businesses by ending the patchwork of state privacy laws.