Washington—The newly installed US Congress is expected to see a fresh effort to develop new regulations for big technology firms, with a focus on tougher enforcement of privacy and data protection.
The wave of data scandals that have hit Facebook and other online platforms has prompted growing calls for action by lawmakers looking to curb abuses of how private information is used and give consumers more clarity.
Significantly, most tech companies are pledging to willingly accept new regulations to set a uniform standard in the United States following a sweeping set of rules that went into effect in the European Union in 2018, although few have offered details.
Federal regulations could pre-empt the enforcement of legislation enacted in California, which was modeled after the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.
“Whether big tech and little tech like it or not, 2019 will be a year of regulation,” said Doug Clinton of the investment firm Loup Ventures, in a recent blog post.