Focus on data breaches tops House Commerce privacy agenda

The House Energy and Commerce Committee released an agenda Wednesday of how it plans to examine privacy issues this Congress, saying it will focus first on data security and the risk posed to consumer data from security breaches.

The committee's Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee has already held a hearing on data breaches, which focused on Sony's recent security breach involving its PlayStation Network and a breach by e-mail marketer Epsilon. The subcommittee is set to hold a second hearing Thursday on the issue and will feature representatives from Sony and Epsilon. The companies declined to testify at the panel's hearing last month on the issue.

Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee Chairwoman Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., has said she plans to reintroduce data breach legislation soon. Her panel has primary jurisdiction over privacy and oversees the Federal Trade Commission, the federal government's top privacy enforcer. The committee's Communications and the Internet Subcommittee has jurisdiction over the Federal Communications Commission and would deal with any privacy issues related to that agency.

After addressing data security, the committee said it will then turn its attention to broader electronic privacy issues and growing concerns about the collection of data from consumers as they surf the Internet.

"As cyber attacks become more frequent, our first step must be to strengthen data security to ensure protection of information that consumers choose to have collected and stored," Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said in a statement. "Only when basic data security is addressed can we move forward to address the more complex questions about individual privacy in the digital era."

The Commerce Department and some tech companies such as eBay, Microsoft and Intel have joined privacy advocates in calling on Congress to pass baseline privacy standards, saying they will provide consumers with more trust in e-commerce.

Senate Commerce Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., introduced legislation in April that included many of the recommendations made by the department.

"Clearly, American consumers need better safeguards when it comes to protecting their information online," Bono Mack said. "E-commerce is a vital and growing part of our economy. We should take steps to embrace it and protect it - and that starts with robust cyber security."