Today, Morgan Reed, president of ACT| The App Association, testified in front of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce on the privacy risks and benefits of activities related to the collection and processing of consumer data adjacent to the sector-specific federal privacy frameworks.  The App Association represents an ecosystem valued at approximately $1.8 trillion and supports 6 million American jobs. Members of the association lead the way in solving problems and protecting privacy in the app economy.

Mr. Reed, in his testimony, recommended the following:

  • Congress should recognize that consumers want access to their health, education, and financial information in digital form, and they want to manage all of it on their smart devices.
  • Congress should enact a comprehensive, risk-based privacy framework similar to the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA, H.R. 8152, 117th) to advance American digital economy competitiveness on the global stage and better protect consumers in and between the penumbras around privacy silos.
  • Congress should not defer entirely to agency rules like it did with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Instead, Congress should pass a comprehensive privacy law to address the privacy and security implications of data collection and processing around the edges of HIPAA, the Gramm-Leach Bliley Act (GLBA), and the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Mr. Reed’s full written testimony can be found here.

About ACT | The App Association: The App Association is a global trade association for small and medium-sized technology companies. Our members are entrepreneurs, innovators, and independent developers within the global app ecosystem that engage with verticals across every industry. We work with and for our members to promote a policy environment that rewards and inspires innovation while providing resources that help them raise capital, create jobs, and continue to build incredible technology.