HAPPENING NOW: House Committee on Energy and Commerce (@EnergyCommerce) is holding a hearing on “Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Big Data.” Watch here:
energycommerce.house.gov/committee-acti…

.@BrandingBrandi of @colorofchange, testifying to the committee, connects privacy rights to broader civil rights. Threats to privacy disproportionately impact people of color, low-income communities, and other marginalized people.

Personal data, even if it feels innocuous, can become a proxy for protected class or sensitive information. This can be used to discriminate in employment, health, advertising, and marketing practices. #privacy

We recently joined @colorofchange and over 40 other advocacy groups in calling on Congress to put civil and human rights at the heart of privacy legislation. The fight for privacy should include the following principles:
civilrights.org/resource/addre…

This letter was cited in this hearing’s majority memo, highlighting the potential for consumer data to be used for discriminatory purposes such as digital redlining, voter suppression, and housing exclusion.
energycommerce.house.gov/sites/democrat…

.@BrandingBrandi: “I have heard it said that privacy is the currency you pay to engage in our digital ecosystem. We should not have to make that choice.”

Nuala O’Connor (@privacymama) of @CenDemTech points out the insufficiency of the current “notice and consent” regime in privacy protection. Privacy self-management is neither practical nor scalable, and does not address discriminatory uses of data.

.@privacymama: “The data economy offers new opportunities to target information and personalize experiences, but it also creates new opportunities for exclusion based on protected group membership and for exploitative targeting.”

Digital rights and protections mean nothing without proper enforcement. That’s why @privacymama calls for more resources and authority for the @FTC and state attorneys general to enforce privacy laws in the case of violations.