Why are tech companies suddenly pushing a federal online privacy law?

A Q&A with Cecilia Kang, New York Times technology reporter.

Back in June, California passed the strictest online privacy law in the country, set to go into effect in 2020. The law would, among other things, require companies to be more transparent about what data they collect and why, tell people whom they're sharing it with and let consumers delete personal information. The United States has no federal online privacy laws. But some tech companies are so worried about the effects of California's law that they're now asking for nationwide rules. "What California does oftentimes sets the standard for the rest of the country. Other nations use what California is doing as a blueprint. And what would happen for the internet on privacy is if these internet companies are forced to abide by a California law, they have in place essentially standards that would become, de facto, their normal standard across the company for any users," said Kang. "Facebook, Google, IBM, Microsoft and other companies are arguing for a federal law with two specifically very important components. No. 1: That any federal law pre-empts or essentially nullifies a state law. And No. 2: That these laws are voluntary. And what that means is that a company would be able to volunteer to hold up certain principles on privacy, but they wouldn't be forced to, like the California law mandates."