Microsoft: US ‘should not stand still’ on privacy legislation

Microsoft Corp.—standing in contrast to peers such as Google, Twitter and Facebook—told the Obama administration it must act quickly to push for federal privacy legislation.

“The rise of big data makes this a pressing issue,” read a letter from Microsoft’s David A. Heiner, vice president and general counsel of legal and corporate affairs.

The White House released a report in May on big data and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration collected comments from tech companies, trade groups and privacy advocates.

Read all comments to the NTIA here

Among the letters is one from The Internet Association, a group representing the likes of Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Twitter, reddit and Yahoo, who encouraged a slower approach to evaluate current legislation and consumer approach.

The group said it is “concerned that any legislative proposal to address ‘big data’ may create a ‘precautionary principle problem’ that hinders the advancement of technologies and innovative services before they even develop.”

However Microsoft pointed to “key trading partners”—other countries that have addressed privacy law reform.

Microsoft said the US “should not stand still,” and should develop privacy legislation based on the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights.

“With new privacy legislation, US companies will find themselves increasingly disadvantaged compared to foreign providers that will compete against US companies in their home and other jurisdictions based on more protective privacy regimes,” Microsoft said.

Over time, consumer trust will be more difficult to keep, the company said.

“Already, some customers for cloud services in foreign markets are turning toward local solutions instead of US providers, precisely because they (and their regulators) do not trust to the sufficiency of US privacy laws.”