WASHINGTON — Congress wants to pass national rules governing how companies can use consumers’ data — though a major goal might simply be to block states from enacting stronger privacy protections on their own. During a Senate hearing Wednesday, several Democratic senators warned that a national law could simply be used to override state efforts. The Senate Commerce Committee hearing comes amid increasing anxiety over safeguarding consumers’ data online and recent scandals that have stoked outrage among users and politicians. For instance, he said the state law defines personal information too broadly such that it could include all data. “A national privacy framework should be consistent throughout all states, pre-empting state consumer-privacy and data security laws,” the Internet Association said in a recent statement .

Source: National Post September 26, 2018 15:11 UTC