‘Big data’ lobbyist: Congress doesn’t want online privacy law

Tony Hadley -- senior vice president for government affairs and public policy for Experian, one of the top companies that trades in consumer data -- said industry standards, not legislation or regulation, should determine how companies collect and use information about Internet users for marketing purposes.

“Should marketing data be regulated like credit, like employment, like lending data,” Hadley asked, referencing sector-specific laws that address sensitive information like financial and health data. “I think the clear indication that we’re getting from Congress is no.” He held up five fingers, saying, “There might be this many members of Congress that want to go in this direction.” Pushing back on calls for a sweeping consumer privacy law in a “big data” era where companies can collect, analyze and share large amounts of information about consumers, he pointed to the state and federal rules that companies like Experian already have to follow. Experian complies with 300 state and federal laws, he said. “The idea that there’s a lack of data regulation and that one more law, the 301st law, will bring sense to consumers … is something that I think is questionable.” Instead of a new law, he pointed to industry standards.