Washington — In a letter to Senate leaders Thursday, representatives of U.S. industry asked Senate leadership to support the Judicial Redress Act, S. 1600, which was introduced last week by Senators Hatch and Murphy. Microsoft and Google, along with the Computer & Communications Industry Association, BSA | The Software Alliance, and the Information Technology Industry Council, were among the wide range of signatories to the letter of support for the Senate bill, which has companion legislation in the House.
The pending bill extends redress rights found in the U.S. Privacy Act to citizens of designated nations, particularly European Union member states, and would allow them to request corrections of inaccuracies in data held by the U.S. government and to seek judicial recourse in the alternative. This bill is considered to be the next step after Congress passed legislation to reform U.S. surveillance practices earlier this month.
In the letter the signatories point out that “the last two years have seen a significant erosion of global public trust in both the U.S. government and the U.S. technology sector,” leading to adverse economic consequences. Swift passage of the Judicial Redress Act is an important next step in restoring that trust and rebuilding the confidence in international digital data transfers that have become a critical component of economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic.