Letter to Energy and Commerce Leadership on Data Requirements

Dear Chair McMorris Rodgers, Chair Bilirakis, and Ranking Members Pallone and Schakowsky:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has long held the belief that for the United States to continue to reap the benefits of the 21st-century digital economy and to retain our position as a global leader in emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, a single national privacy standard with full preemption is vital to providing necessary market certainty around data usage.

The hearing held in your Committee on October 18^th entitled “Safeguarding Data and Innovation: Setting the Foundation for the Use of Artificial Intelligence,” has brought an emerging issue to the forefront: the dichotomy that safe and responsible artificial Intelligence is contingent upon good data. Therefore, in any potential privacy legislation to be developed, Congress must be mindful that specific limitations around what data may be collected could have profound consequences for ensuring systems outputs remain lawful and non-discriminatory.

This sentiment is not isolated to the business community. Stanford University’s Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) recently highlighted within their policy brief: “As companies and regulators step up efforts to protect individuals’ information privacy, a common privacy principle (data minimization) can come to clash with algorithmic fairness.”

At a time when Artificial Intelligence is one of the United States’ leading drivers of economic growth, McKinsey & Co has predicted that “generative AI has the potential to generate value ranging from $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion in global corporate profits annually.” It is paramount that Congress works to pass a fully preemptive national data law that stops an unnecessary state patchwork from continuing to develop and provides necessary market certainty to allow for the digital economy to flourish.

Sincerely,

Tom Quaadman
Executive Vice President
Chamber Technology Engagement Center
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

cc: Members of the House Committee on Energy & Commerce
      Members of the Subcommittee on Innovation, Data & Commerce