FB pixel

Maybe if federal lawmakers saw that their biometric data is endangered they’d pass a law

Maybe if federal lawmakers saw that their biometric data is endangered they’d pass a law
 

A noted public policy think tank scouting the landscape of data privacy law in the United States has found little to recommend beyond continuous lawsuits.

The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation has published a report and panel discussion on how much federal legislative inaction on privacy — biometric and otherwise — is going to cost businesses, and, eventually, consumers.

If each of the nation’s 50 states were to create unique regulations, the total hit to the economy could be more than $1 trillion over a decade in market inefficiencies and compliance costs, according to the foundation.

That figure accounts for out-of-state costs, or the price paid by all firms of all sizes in one state to do business in another state with unique privacy rules.

Huge round numbers like that are easy to come by (whether predicting new markets or avoidable catastrophes), even for a nonprofit that has been hailed as one of the world’s leading technology-policy research institutes.

Numbers that cannot be debated, however, describe how state and local politicians are acting on their own in terms of protecting consumers against the commercial abuse and misuse of people’s most critical information, including face, voice, finger and iris prints.

The foundation’s report states that 34 states since 2018 have passed or at least introduced 72 bills covering how businesses collect and use personal data. If, as the group says, patchwork laws are bad, it is good news that only a fraction of those bills became law.

Assuming an economy like that is feasible, it would only be so with the help of armies of attorneys and systems developers. Now-settled debates about how to collect local taxes for online purchases seem quaint in comparison.

These are “well-meaning” people trying to do right by constituents, said Caleb Williamson, a policy associate at vendor group The App Association, during the foundation-sponsored panel discussion. Confusion is creating an economic drag, said Williamson, creating a “dire need” for federal intervention.

There is an exception to every rule, and one footnote on this arrived just last week.

State lawmakers in Kentucky have introduced a bill that is being called “a carbon copy” and a “copycat” of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act.

Beyond the fact that few businesses would like to see BIPA erased much less replicated, the act is yet another example of legislative Balkanization.

In the panel talk, assembled to support the report, it was pointed out that even the scope and focus of states’ efforts vary.

As iconic as BIPA is, it narrowly targets just commercial businesses collecting biometrics — typically fingerprint and face biometrics. It also gives those who feel wronged the right to action, something not every piece of legislation offers.

While BIPA does not do this, some bills carry prohibitions against other states trying to preempt their privacy and data laws.

California, on the other hand, has its broad Consumer Privacy Act; Virginia has its comprehensive Consumer Data Protection Act; and Colorado has its encompassing Privacy Act.

What federal legislation was introduced last year is, in fact, piecemeal.

There was the Balancing the Rights of Web Surfers Equally and Responsibly Act aimed at broadband and online service providers. Another, focused on service providers, would oblige them to secure data and avoid misuse of consumer data.

Article Topics

 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 

Latest Biometrics News

 

Biometrics and injection detection for deepfake defense a rising priority

Biometrics integrations with injection attack detection to defend the latest front in the global battle against fraud, deepfakes, is the…

 

Biometric Update Podcast looks at the road to a global standard for age assurance

Episode 2 of the Biometric Update Podcast is a dispatch from the 2025 Global Age Assurance Standards Summit, held from…

 

WEF launches new DPI initiative focused on emerging tech, including biometrics

Global Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) initiatives are lagging behind emerging technologies such as AI, which could lead to inefficiencies, bottlenecks…

 

Odds are good for biometrics firms in the global gambling sector

Gambling has always been a vice associated with certain kinds of criminal activity, but the development of the online gambling…

 

New Zealand issues tender for digital ID services accreditation infrastructure

New Zealand’s accredited digital identity services regulator, the Trust Framework Authority (TFA), has published a request for information (RFI) for…

 

Pindrop surpasses $100M in annual recurring revenue, kicks off BU podcast

A release from Atlanta-based voice biometrics firm Pindrop celebrates a milestone: the firm has surpassed US$100 million in Annual Recurring…

Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Market Analysis

Most Viewed This Week

Featured Company

Biometrics Insight, Opinion

Digital ID In-Depth

Biometrics White Papers

Biometrics Events