Silicon Valley execs will meet to discuss privacy
Scoop: Silicon Valley execs will meet to discuss privacy
By Kim Hart June 25, 2018
Privacy and government affairs officers from a number of
the largest tech companies plan to convene in San Francisco on Wednesday to
discuss how to tackle growing questions and concerns about consumer privacy
online.
Why it matters: It's been a tough year for the industry
on the privacy front, driven largely by Europe's new privacy regime and the
media frenzy around Facebook's Cambridge Analytica data scandal.
What's happening: The Information Technology Industry
Council, a Washington trade group that represents major tech companies,
organized an all-day meeting to jump-start the conversations.
Members include Facebook, Google, Apple, Salesforce, IBM,
Microsoft, Intel, Qualcomm, Samsung, Dropbox, and others. ITI expects the
meeting to be attended by companies across the industry's sectors, including
hardware, software and device makers — but declined to say which companies
would be there.
Dean Garfield, ITI CEO and president, told Axios that
tech companies are aware there's a new sense of urgency around consumer
privacy.
"My experience is that they’ve always viewed privacy
as a foundational principle, but the question of how do you give meaning to it
and talk about it in a way that resonates is now something that’s more
pressing," he said.
Driving the news: Europe's strict and sweeping privacy
rules, GDPR, went into effect last month and are already considered de-facto
standards because they affect so many U.S. companies. On top of that,
California lawmakers are scrambling to pass a privacy bill before a major
privacy initiative ends up on the November ballot.
As Axios reported last week, the Trump administration is
exploring possible approaches to create a framework for how companies can use
and share consumers' online data.
ITI says its focus on privacy began before Gail Slater,
the Trump advisor leading discussions on privacy, arrived at the White House,
and that this process is not a direct result of those conversations.
U.S. vs EU: The U.S. has generally approached privacy
rules on a sector-by-sector basis, meaning the health care industry has
different privacy standards than the financial industry. Tech companies handle
data according to their privacy policies and other agreements, such as the
Privacy Shield between the EU and U.S. And the FTC makes sure companies stay
true to their promises to consumers.
"Just because Europe has taken a comprehensive
approach doesn't mean our different approach is deficient," Garfield said.
"And just because Europe is early doesn't mean it's best or final. But we
should always be thinking about how we evolve to make sure consumers have trust
in our products."
Our take: It will be very difficult to get such a diverse
group of companies to reach consensus about privacy, which has become
incredibly complicated in the internet era, as companies with different
business models want different standards. This process will extend far beyond
this week's meeting.
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