Privacy & Information Security Law Blog: EU Commission Responds To NTIA Request For Comment On Developing The Administration's Approach To Consumer Privacy

On November 9, 2018, the European Commission ("the Commission") submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration ("NTIA") in response to its request for public comments on developing the administration's approach to consumer privacy.

In its comments, the Commission welcomes and agrees with many of the high-level goals identified by NTIA, including harmonization of the legal landscape, incentivizing privacy research, employing a risk-based approach and creating interoperability at a global level. The Commission also welcomes that the key characteristics of a modern and flexible privacy regime (i.e., an overarching law, a core set of data protection principles, enforceable individual rights and an independent supervisory authority with effective enforcement powers) are also at the core of NTIA's proposed approach to consumer privacy. The Commission structured its specific suggestions around these key