5 Privacy Principles Proposed by Business Lobbying Powerhouse

Privacy has been a hotter topic over the last year than privacy advocates and businesses who rely on harvested consumer data could have imagined.

The EU's new privacy regulations, GDPR, finally became law.

The Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal made privacy headlines around the globe, and revealed 5 intriguing statements from Mark Zuckerberg.

And California passed the strictest privacy laws in U.S. history, which will go into effect in 2020.

Now the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is fighting back against this rush to privacy by proposing its own "Privacy Principles" it wants Congress to act on.

It believes U.S. consumers benefit from what it calls "responsible use of data." The tradeoff is supposedly privacy vs. convenience.

Too much privacy ruins innovation, makes it more expensive

What is the trade-off between privacy and convenience? The U.S. Chamber of Commerce puts it like this:

"Consumers have more options than ever when it comes to goods, services, information, and entertainment. Data-driven innovation and investment enable consumers to take advantage of faster, higher quality, and customized services at lower or no costs. This Fourth Industrial Revolution, relying on data and technology, requires policies that promote innovation, regulatory certainty, and respect for individual privacy and choice."

5 privacy principles the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is proposing

The business lobbying group is proposing a long list of privacy-related principles it claims will strike the balance of privacy vs. innovation. Here are five of the principles:

1. A Nationwide Privacy Framework, instead of a state by state patchwork approach
2. Privacy Protections Should Be Risk-Focused and Contextual: "They should be considered in light of the benefits of and risks presented by the data."
3. Flexibility: "Privacy laws and regulations should be flexible and not include mandates that require businesses to use specific technological solutions or other mechanisms to implement consumer protections."
4. Harm-Focused Enforcement: "Enforcement provisions of a federal data privacy law should only apply where there is concrete harm to individuals."
5. Data Security and Breach Notification: As part of a national privacy policy, the Chamber wants Congress to pass a national breach notification law. "Preemptive federal data security and breach notification requirements would provide consumers with consistent protections and would also reduce the complexity and costs associated with the compliance and enforcement."

We've heard plenty about support for a national breach notification law at SecureWorld cybersecurity conferences because it is difficult to comply with dozens of different laws while responding to a cyber incident.

And by the way, these are just five of the "Privacy Principles" being proposed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. You can read all of them here.