Washington – The Computer & Communications Industry Association offered written comments Tuesday and will testify Wednesday on Maryland’s proposed Biometric Data Privacy Act, a bill regulating the digital collection and use of consumer biometric information. While CCIA strongly supports a federal data privacy policy and understands that state legislatures seek to fill the gap in protections for consumers in their state, CCIA is concerned that compliance requirements within SB 169 go far beyond protecting biometric data and could result in degraded consumer services and experience.
CCIA’s written comments and testimony detail improvements to the bill that could remediate current risks to consumers and innovation. Suggestions include aligning key definitions with privacy standards to mitigate compliance burdens, directing protections toward high-risk practices in order to preserve product quality and consumer experience, and time extensions for compliance requirements.
CCIA has advocated for policies that enable a competitive U.S. tech industry for 50 years and supports baseline federal privacy legislation to ensure consistent protection for users across the country.
The following can be attributed to CCIA State Policy Director Khara Boender:
“CCIA strongly supports the protection of consumer data and understands that Maryland residents are rightfully concerned about the proper safeguarding of their biometric data, but the bill does not provide a sufficient on-ramp to comply and is notably shorter than the compliance timeframes offered in other states with comprehensive consumer data privacy laws, like Colorado, California, and Virginia.”