The House Privacy Working Group will discuss the...

The House Privacy Working Group will discuss the EU-U.S. free trade agreements Wednesday with an academic and two industry representatives, said a spokesman for Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. They are: Jake Colvin, vice president-global trade issues for the National Foreign Trade Council; Justin Weiss, Yahoo senior director-international privacy and policy; and Georgetown Law Professor Laura Donohue, who focuses on national security. Blackburn, who co-chairs the working group with Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., recently introduced legislation to prevent the FCC from writing net neutrality rules (CD Feb 24 p20), and has expressed skepticism about enhancing FTC authority over domestic and international data security. Wednesday, the working group will examine the differences between the U.S. and European data security regulations, the challenges those differences create for citizens and businesses and whether the two sides’ ongoing trade negotiations will address those differences, said Blackburn’s office. It said the group will also discuss whether Congress should enact legislation to make U.S. privacy laws more in line with those of Europe.