NMHC/NAA Viewpoint: As lawmakers consider AI regulation, we urge them to continue efforts to create a national data security, consumer privacy and breach notification standard that will protect American consumers, businesses and national security. This will provide necessary certainty to facilitate further innovation in emerging technologies like AI.
In the course of doing business, rental housing owners and operators are utilizing data and emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) to optimize property operations, improve housing affordability and meet resident demand and expectation. With continued adoption of new technology, the cyber-threat landscape faced by rental housing owners and operators has expanded greatly and made defense against these vulnerabilities a top priority for the multifamily industry.
Advances within the property technology sector, otherwise known as PropTech, have further expanded the surface area for cyberattacks as more devices and systems are connected to the internet, potentially giving criminals greater access to apartment companies’ networks and the lives of their residents. Resident preferences are driving much of this adoption, from leasing automation to home access control to electric vehicle charging solutions. Cybercriminals are looking to exploit vulnerabilities in these technologies through generative AI tools and have altered the threat landscape in ways that have not yet been fully realized.
As policymakers debate how best to regulate AI and other technologies, they should be mindful not to stifle innovation or inhibit the growth of tech-driven solutions that have significant pro-consumer and pro-housing benefits. At the same time, it is imperative that Congress work quickly to protect consumers, businesses and our national security by enacting a comprehensive federal data privacy and security standard, which includes a preemption of the existing patchwork of often conflicting and contradictory state data security, privacy and breach notification laws.
A robust, flexible and scalable federal data privacy and security standard would protect consumers, ensure businesses of all types and sizes are able to comply and allow emerging technologies like AI to continue to evolve with important safeguards in place.
