ILR and US Chamber Letter to Washington Legislators on Washington Privacy Act Legislation
Published
March 09, 2020
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and ILR support strong consumer privacy protections and commend Washington State's Washington Privacy Act (WPA), but strongly oppose the House-passed version's inclusion of a private right of action (PRA) for enforcement. The Chamber argues that PRAs are an inefficient and ineffective enforcement mechanism in the privacy context, as they invite costly litigation over technical violations with little real consumer benefit, primarily enrich plaintiffs' attorneys, allow individual lawyers to set broad policy rather than expert agencies, and produce inconsistent rulings across jurisdictions. Instead, the Chamber urges the legislature to rely on state attorney general enforcement, which provides consistent, holistic, and expert-driven policy outcomes, and calls on both chambers to craft privacy legislation that protects consumers equally while providing regulatory certainty.
