The American Bankers Association yesterday joined the Bank Policy Institute and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association in offering feedback on the National Telecommunications Information Administration’s plan to develop a federal consumer data privacy framework. While they generally supported the initiative, the associations pointed out that financial institutions are already subject to comprehensive federal, state and international data protection standards, and they encouraged NTIA to consider these existing standards when developing any new framework. They added that the new framework should not be inconsistent or duplicative of existing mandates that currently apply to the financial industry.
To ensure sector-wide consistency, any federal data privacy initiative should focus on federal preemption of the patchwork of state laws and ensure harmony with existing and future global standards, the groups said. They added that as technologies continue to advance, privacy and security should be a fundamental consideration of any new product or service, and emphasized that privacy standards must also apply to third party service providers.
