In an address to the Telecommunications Industry Association's spring conference in Dallas, Congressman Marsha Blackburn (TN-7) issued a warning call to the country's tech leaders: If they do not adopt consumer friendly privacy standards, Washington will do so for them.

As she discussed on Dallas' Mark Davis Radio Show, Blackburn doesn't believe that most tech companies understand the looming threat of federal intervention:

"What disturbs consumers is how much data online merchants, retailers, and organizations are holding in the first place. What we have to do is say if the industry does not step forward and lead on this issue the bureaucracy and big government are going to come in with all their corrosive potential and do it for ya. And that is what you don't want."

Blackburn called for a series of tech stakeholder roundtables to develop a self-regulatory structure that protects online consumer privacy while allowing Internet based companies to innovate and grow. She also pledged to end the dueling federal jurisdictions and inconsistent protections by placing online consumer privacy wholly within the FTC; eliminating the FCC from the process.

Full text of Congressman Blackburn's remarks, as prepared for delivery, is available here.