Big Brother is watching, and it has somber implications for digital privacy and tech start-ups trying to do business overseas.

That was the takeaway from a roundtable discussion at INRIX’s Kirkland office between U.S. Congresswoman Suzan DelBene and various representatives of tech startups concerning privacy within the wider conversation on technological innovation and disclosure policies.

DelBene, a former Microsoft executive, said concerns over privacy have grown to the point where many people may not adopt new technology or devices because they don’t know how the information will be used, and more importantly, who will have access to it. Recent stories about massive credit card databases being hacked have also added to concerns about privacy protection.

One solution DelBene proposed is updating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, which she described as “incredibly old.”

“It has a lot of implications for people’s privacy,” she said.

Yet, a solution may not be easily determined, as some of the participants said revising laws concerning or adding new ones may damper innovation and/or interfere with some of the benefits of aggregating information. Additionally, laying more requirements for information use disclosure may not be a practical way to improve people’s understanding as to how their data is used.

Eric Broderson of Impinj said that allowing companies access to personality identifiable information that matches other data can enhance user experiences, while Bryan Mistele of INRIX warned against legislation that produces unintended consequences by stunting innovation or creating a 50 page disclosure agreement that no user actually takes the time to read.

“The market is self-correcting,” he said. “We should be careful to not create a one-size-fits-all solution.”

For example, many innovations in the health industry are stifled by regulations through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which effect all health devices, according to University of Washington Computer Science Professor Shwetak Patel.

Forcing health tech industries to make all their devices compliant, he said, is a “daunting task.”

Dave McLauchlan of Buddy shared Mistele’s view that the market will self-correct on a lot of unresolved issues between users seeking to control how their digital information is handled and companies attempting to provide better user experiences through data aggregation.

But when it comes to threats to data privacy, the greatest problem is not inaction by the feds but too much unrestrained surveillance, according to several of the participants. McLauchlan said that during a recent business trip in Spain nearly all of the European companies he met refuse to store any of their data in the U.S., even if it’s cheaper and faster, due to laws like the Patriot Act which give the feds authority to access any data in the country.

McLauchlan pointed out this has led to countries like Russia passing laws that require all companies to store data about Russian users only on computer servers inside the country, albeit it also makes it easier for those governments to collect data on their own citizens.

Concerns over the Patriot Act, as well as NSA surveillance, have forced companies like INRIX to build data centers in countries like China and those in the Middle East, where companies are unwilling to allow the information to be stored in the U.S.

Not only does this add costs by necessitating additional data centers, Mistele said, but it makes it difficult for them to provide certain analytical data to their customers.

INRIX gathers navigation-related data that it then provides to car companies for use in cars and mobile devices to help reduce traffic congestion. But because information for different countries is stored on separate servers, Mistele said, it makes it problematic for them to compare traffic data between cities such as London and Moscow.

The chief fear, Mistele said, is that any data stored in the U.S. can be accessed by the NSA through backdoors, allowing them to gather information on foreign citizens. During the round table, he remarked that it was sad foreign governments now trust China more with their information than the U.S.

“Other countries don’t trust the U.S., which is really unfortunate,” he said.