My name is Jennifer Huddleston and I am a technology policy research fellow at the Cato Institute. My research focuses on the intersection of law and technology, including issues related to data privacy. I thank you for the opportunity to provide informational testimony based on my work on this topic and will focus on five of the questions presented today.
(1) What are the benefits and drawbacks of including a private right of action in consumer data privacy legislation?
A private right of action risks bringing litigation that may particularly burden small firms and not actually improve the underlying concerns if there are not appropriate guardrails that ensure such litigation only responds to actual harm and benefits those truly impacted — not just certain attorneys. For this reason, a private right of action for mere statutory violations, one that encourages class actions and extends beyond actual damages, is likely to have significant drawbacks.
