Privacy groups want role in new tech task force

A coalition of advocacy organizations on Friday urged a new Senate privacy working group to give consumer and privacy groups a more prominent role in crafting the nation’s first comprehensive data privacy law.

The letter from top privacy groups, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Center for Digital Democracy, comes a day after Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) convened the first meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s task force on technology, which will focus on drawing up recommendations for a privacy law.

“We urge you to work closely with consumer and privacy organizations in addition to your meetings with industry groups,” the advocates wrote. “For too long, tech companies have determined the privacy policies in the United States. The consequence has been spiraling levels of data breach and identity theft.”

Thursday’s meeting featured representatives from tech companies Mozilla, Snap, Salesforce and Match, the parent company of several top dating apps.

“Industry groups have resisted the passage of meaningful privacy laws and when strong privacy laws are enacted, they come to Washington and ask you to preempt those safeguards,” the advocacy groups wrote in their letter. “We can no longer let industry groups and ineffective agencies decide how much privacy Americans may have.”

A Blackburn spokeswoman told The Hill her office has extended invitations to some consumer advocacy groups, noting “we do think their voices should be heard in the discussion on privacy legislation.”