NAMIC: Data Privacy Legislation Undermines Protections, Ignores Existing Solutions
Data privacy legislation set to be considered by the House Energy and Commerce Committee fails to recognize the realitie of the insurance and broader financial services sector and could actually make new and worse problems for consumers, the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies said today.
“The draft of the American Privacy Rights Act doesn’t live up to the intent behind the bill,” said Jimi Grande, senior vice president of federal and political affairs for NAMIC. “It creates a national standard for data, then completely undermines it with carve outs for assorted state laws. It delegates enforcement to plaintiffs’ attorneys through an expansive private right of action, and then goes a step further by banning arbitration agreements that can resolve conflicts without costly litigation. The focus of the bill may have been ‘Big Tech,’ but every American will see costs continue to rise without seeing any meaningful additional protection.”
More frustrating for insurers and other financial services industries, Grande said, is that the legislation ignores not only the state-based system of insurance regulation, but also the work being done elsewhere in Congress to modernize financial privacy rules that have been in place for decades.
“While it would be nice if we lived in a universe where a one-size-fits-all approach to regulating data security and privacy was possible, the reality is not all data is the same,” Grande said. “The House Financial Services Committee devoted a significant amount of time and effort in recent years to examining data privacy issues and how the existing rules under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act can be modernized for today’s economy. This more measured and tailored approach yielded better legislative results than the rushed APRA and should be the model if Congress wants to get serious about a comprehensive national data security and privacy standard.”
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Article Posted: 04.10.24
Last Updated: 04.11.24
