In this report, we assess today’s Senate Banking hearing at which Chairman Crapo (R-ID) cited Libra to push data-privacy standards establishing consumer privacy protections similar to those in the EU. The committee has already shown bipartisan interest in pursuing comprehensive data-privacy reform (see Client Report PRIVACY85); the strong, bipartisan concerns over Libra expressed today may well spur action here even as they make it indisputably clear that Libra faces almost unanimous opposition absent significant structural change. While Sen. Crapo indicated that Libra might accelerate faster U.S. payments, Republicans were generally critical, with Sen. Cotton (R-AR) likening Facebook’s payment system power to that he said large banks have used to deny loans to firearms companies.
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