Privacy, Innovation Not Mutually Exclusive, Redl Says
Administrator David Redl said Friday he's hopeful comments on NTIA’s privacy principles (see 1810100057) will show privacy and innovation can be maximized under a new federal privacy framework. NTIA met with more than 60 companies, groups and individuals before the comment solicitation, he said. One message the agency heard from the tech industry is that privacy and innovation are “not mutually exclusive goals,” Redl told the Brookings Institution.
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“You can support Americans’ notions of privacy and empower them to get the privacy outcomes they want without sacrificing the essential nature of who we are as a country,” Redl said. Asked what agreement he saw in the recent Senate Commerce Committee hearings on privacy (see 1810100066), he said there’s consensus on the need for the current conversation. It’s too early to say where there’s agreement among parties, industry and privacy groups in reaching those goals. Redl is “excited” the conversation is underway between the executive and legislative branches.
“Will it be a tough conversation to make sure we are maximizing both to the best of our ability? Yeah, and that’s why it’s been so long in coming, but I think there’s been an understanding over the last couple of months that we can work together to have both,” Redl said. The product of the stakeholder and comments process should be a “modern American approach to privacy,” which hopefully will inform the White House and Congress, he said.
Redl said the era of “easy spectrum decisions” is over “or very close to being over. ... every time we do one of these reallocations and auctions, we make it more difficult for ourselves.” Denser packing of systems requires more engineering, and to move them requires more funding to change out the equipment and make them compatible, Redl said. NTIA is trying to get creative in making spectrum available, he added, commending the administration for including in the president’s budget the ability to lease.
Leasing “could be an option in areas where we have systems that cannot be taken out, and where we can’t make a seemingly nationwide allocation available at any price,” the administrator said. “That doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities where someone might want to make more efficient use of spectrum, who should explore those options.”
Redl expressed confidence the U.S. is going to be the world’s 5G leader. At the White House 5G meeting, the message was clear and unanimous, Redl said, from him, House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow and White House Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios: “The U.S. is going to be first. We’re behind you, private sector. How can we help?”