Delays on a Senate cellphone privacy bill (S-2389) could make it hard to complete a package on cellphone privacy, Hill and lobbyist sources said. For a bundle to move, chairmen must agree to merge the House and Senate Commerce Committee bills (HR-4943, S-2389), plus companion House and Senate Judiciary committee bills (HR-4709, S-2178). But the Senate Commerce bill differs markedly from the House bill, and faces a host of amendments -- some of which consumer and privacy groups charge are threats to already scant consumer protections. An amendment that would give phone companies discretion in notifying customers when their data are accessed in illegal breaches is likely to start fires, according to lobbyists. 揟hat抯 a problem. Companies are always going to do things that favor themselves,?said Sherwin Siy, staff counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Consumer groups want anyone whose data are accessed illegally to be notified.
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