Note that Franken wrote this as the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law. The committee's mandate / scope:

    Jurisdiction: (1) Oversight of laws and policies governing
    the collection, protection, use and dissemination of 
    commercial information by the private sector, including 
    online behavioral advertising, privacy within social 
    networking websites and other online privacy issues; 
    (2) Enforcement and implementation of commercial
    information privacy laws and policies; (3) Use of 
    technology by the private sector to protect privacy, 
    enhance transparency and encourage innovation; 
    (4) Privacy standards for the collection, retention, use 
    and dissemination of personally identifiable commercial 
    information; and (5) Privacy implications of new or 
    emerging technologies.