(Bloomberg) -- Most American parents want Congress to pass online privacy legislation, especially to protect children, according to a poll by digital advocacy group Trusted Future.

In a survey of 992 respondents with at least one child under the age of 17, about 63% said that if they could choose one priority for Congress, it would be to increase privacy protections.

Some 75% of Americans believe having a “tech talk” with their children about digital safety is now as important as the “sex talk,” according to the poll.

“That’s a signal to policy makers and tech companies about the importance that parents place on a safe and secure and private digital experience,” said Ken Gude, executive director of Trusted Future, a Washington-based think tank formed late last year that focuses on digital issues, particularly privacy and cybersecurity. 

The group calls for a federal privacy standard, echoing arguments from the technology and telecom industries, which have lobbied for one nationwide criterion rather than a patchwork of state laws.

The US lacks a federal statute on privacy. While 25 states have introduced privacy legislation, only a handful have signed them into law and even fewer have implemented robust standards that prevent tech companies from collecting user data without consent. Recent efforts by Congress to pass a privacy law have stalled amid opposition from key lawmakers, including Senator Maria Cantwell, a Washington State Democrat. 

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, passed in 1998, protects children 13 and younger. Companies including Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook, Alphabet Inc.’s Google and ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok have all paid fines for violations of the law.

Concerns around children’s online safety intensified last year after a Facebook whistle-blower, Frances Haugen, came forward with documents revealing that the company planned to attract more adolescents, while also having research that its products harmed teenage girls’ mental health.

“Parents want to take an active role in safeguarding their children’s privacy, but they can’t always be their own chief information security officer,” said Gude, who spent more than a decade in different positions at the Center for American Progress, a liberal public policy research group.

Trusted Future, which doesn’t disclose its funding, has several people on its board with ties to the tech and telecom industries, including Edward “Smitty” Smith, a former legal adviser to the Federal Communications Commission who now represents several telecom clients, and Maureen Ohlhausen, a former acting chair of the Federal Trade Commission and chair of the telecom-funded group 21st Century Privacy Coalition.

Trusted Future said in a statement it had no relationship with the 21st Century Privacy Coalition, which counts AT&T Inc., Comcast Corp., T-Mobile US Inc. and the broadband association USTelecom as members.

The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points. 

When the Supreme Court in June overturned the Roe v. Wade decision, striking down the constitutional right of women to decide whether to terminate a pregnancy, new privacy concerns arose about potential legal consequences if a woman’s health data were to be exposed. The Biden administration in an executive order earlier this month called on the FTC to take steps to protect the sensitive health data of patients seeking abortions.

Advocacy groups have pushed tech companies to increase privacy protections and transparency about how user data is shared, but argue that a strong national standard is still essential.

Some companies are taking steps to protect users. For example, Meta’s Instagram is testing using facial analysis to verify users are over the age of 18. And Google said earlier this month that it would start deleting users’ location history when visiting sensitive locations, like abortion clinics.

Some Republican lawmakers have vowed to make a priority of passing privacy legislation next year if the GOP retakes Congress.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.