Washington – The Computer & Communications Industry Association offered written comments ahead of testifying on several consumer data privacy bills in Maryland. CCIA is concerned that certain compliance requirements and definitions in proposed measures would go far beyond intended consumer protections, resulting in unintended consequences including negative impacts for online users.
CCIA filed written comments expressing concerns about Maryland HB 254, HB 33, HB 807.
CCIA has advocated for federal online privacy legislation and understands states have an interest in legislating on this topic in the absence of Congress passing baseline privacy protections.
The following can be attributed to CCIA State Policy Director Khara Boender:
“We share Maryland legislators’ concern about protecting biometric privacy and request that measures to address this important issue provide enough lead time for responsible sites to comply. We also recommend directing protections toward high-risk practices and aligning key definitions with privacy standards to encourage harmonization across state laws and aid compliance.”
“Privacy is particularly important for health data and for children online. While CCIA supports privacy measures tailored to specific age groups and the handling of more sensitive health data, the bills legislators are considering should prioritize ways to enable responsible companies to provide effective protections rather than introducing punitive models with private rights of action that, in other states, have opened the floodgates to costly lawsuits.”