Charter Statement on Senate Commerce Committee Hearing “Examining Legislative Proposals to Protect Consumer Data Privacy”

Charter has consistently called for a national privacy framework that empowers and informs consumers giving them confidence that their personal information is being protected online. We appreciate the Senate Commerce Committee holding today’s hearing to advance the legislative process and address the need for stronger online privacy protections. We are encouraged by recent proposals to strengthen the privacy of consumers’ information online and particularly their application of  the same privacy requirements across the entire Internet ecosystem. We continue to believe that a comprehensive opt-in approach to the use of consumer data — in which all companies doing business online would have to obtain consumers’ affirmative consent before using or sharing data, with limited exceptions — would best empower consumers to control how and when their personal data is used. We look forward to continuing to work with Members of Congress and other stakeholders to establish a robust federal privacy framework that will better protect consumers wherever they go online.