Google releases data privacy framework ahead of Senate hearing | Cyber Security

Google is offering up its ideas about what new data-protection legislation should look like, as it prepares to face questions in the US Senate.

A three-page document, posted online Monday, suggests that companies limit data collection, be required to protect that data and give people control of and easy access to information collected about them.

“These principles help us evaluate new legislative proposals and advocate for responsible, interoperable and adaptable data protection regulations.” Keith Enright, Google's chief privacy officer, said in a blog post. “How these principles are put into practice will shape the nature and direction of innovation.”

The framework is mostly made up of high-level privacy practices that the search giant already sticks to or could easily implement, The Hill noted.

Enright has worked at Google for almost eight years, heading up its legal privacy team and recently becoming its chief privacy officer, he said in the blog post. According to Bloomberg, he'll be shaping Google's privacy policy at a time when lawmakers are increasingly focused on data privacy.

He's among several tech executives who've been invited to a Senate committee hearing called “Examining Safeguards for Consumer Data Privacy” on Wednesday, and his blog post seems to confirm that he'll attend.

“I look forward to discussing these principles and Google's work on privacy and security with the US Senate later this week, and to working with policymakers and all stakeholders on regulation that protects consumers and enables innovation,” he said.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai will also meet privately with top Republican members of Congress on Friday.