The Electronic Privacy Information Center has asked U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation to establish an independent Data Protection Agency in the United States.
Key points from the EPIC letter:
- Many of the privacy bills before this Committee propose an expansion of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) authority. But before giving more authority to the FTC, the Senate Commerce Committee should consider whether the Commission is actually capable of establishing and enforcing rigorous data protection standards.
- EPIC supports the establishment of a federal data protection agency.
- An independent agency could more effectively utilize its resources to police the current widespread exploitation of consumers’ personal information and would be staffed with personnel who possess the requisite expertise to regulate the field of data security.
- The U.S. is one of the few advanced economies in the world without a data protection agency with a consequence of U.S consumers experiencing the highest levels of data breach, financial fraud and identity theft in the world.