Making "Freedom Fries" for Privacy: House Leaders & Industry Fear EU Rules Protecting Citizens and Consumers

This Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce is holding a hearing called "Internet Privacy: The Impact and Burden of EU Regulation."  We imagine leading digital data collection companies have persuaded Chairwoman Mary Bono Mack that the EU's admirable work on privacy threatens their interests.  We have already alerted EU officials and others about the hearing--and it will be noted which companies are involved (including behind the scenes).  U.S. companies are terrified that the more rigorous, fact-based, and sensible EU approach to protecting consumers will grow in influence here and--especially--become the model for the growth of data-mining in the lucrative Asia Pacific region.
We hope the hearing is balanced--and that those who are truly knowledgeable and support what the EU has done will testify.  Many online data mining companies are apopletic that the EU actually asks hard and appropriate questions on their privacy related practices--something our FTC should do.  This hearing is back-firing, of course.  It is spurring greater support for what the EU has done and will do.  The backers of this hearing risk losing public support via social media and other influence platforms in the long term.  They should remember the privacy issue can 'bite' back.