IBM’s Christina Montgomery: Congress Should Focus on Protecting Consumers’ Data Privacy

Christina Montgomery, chief privacy officer at IBM, has said the company “strongly supports” legislation on data privacy and is encouraging Congress to prioritize consumer protections.

Montgomery noted in a CNBC interview that IBM is calling for a “strong national law” that will ensure consumer data protection while holding companies accountable and promoting innovation.

According to Montgomery, IBM supports the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s development of a privacy framework slated for finalization in 2020. The company also seeks expanded authorities for the Federal Trade Commission to penalize companies for non-protection of consumer data.

“IBM believes that data and any insights derived from it belong to their creators, and that individuals have basic rights when it comes to their data,” she said.

“This means knowing which of their data is being collected and how it will be used and shared. It also means that consumers deserve the right to exert control over their data – being able to access it, delete it and opt-out of having it collected in the first place when there is no legitimate reason to do so.” 

Montogomery added that IBM’s Policy Lab has issued a call for legislation that will protect end-users of facial recognition technology.