January 28 is the international Data Privacy Day in the U.S., Canada, and dozens of European countries. In Congress, Rep. Cliff Stearns of Florida introduced a resolution supporting the designation of January 28, 2010 as National Data Privacy Day. To date, the bill has 14 co-sponsors:
- Rep Barton, Joe [TX-6]
- Rep Bordallo, Madeleine Z. [GU]
- Rep Boucher, Rick [VA-9]
- Rep Coble, Howard [NC-6]
- Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. [NY-22]
- Rep Holt, Rush D. [NJ-12]
- Rep Kilroy, Mary Jo [OH-15]
- Rep Latta, Robert E. [OH-5]
- Rep Lofgren, Zoe [CA-16]
- Rep Markey, Edward J. [MA-7]
- Rep McNerney, Jerry [CA-11]
- Rep Price, David E. [NC-4]
- Rep Radanovich, George [CA-19]
- Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. [IL-9]
There has been no such resolution introduced in the Senate. Last year, a resolution was introduced in the Senate at the last minute and passed by voice vote. Perhaps they’ll do the same again this year, but it really shows how little some people think of privacy when a simple resolution is a last-minute after-thought.
If your representative is not listed as a co-sponsor of the current resolution and you would him or her to support the resolution, you can use the House’s web site to contact your representative about H. Res. 902.
Let’s hope that in this year of particularly vicious partisanship, our legislators can at least agree that data privacy is worth recognizing.