What Will a National Data Privacy Law Look Like?

During a hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, lawmakers and industry representatives expressed their support for a federal data privacy law, while eschewing calls for European-style policy and regulations. Representatives from AT&T, Amazon, Twitter, Apple and Charter Communications testified they were open to federal legislation, and encouraged federal lawmakers to pass all-encompassing legislation before states begin to tackle their own. "Federal legislation will be of very little help if it becomes the 51st layer on top of 50 state rules," explained Len Cali, senior vice president for Global Public Policy at AT&T.