Cruz wants you to know if your air fryer spies on you. A senator surprisingly objected | Opinion

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz recently put forth a bill that would require clear labeling on products — like your next air fryer — that contain cameras and listening devices. When Cruz asked senators to unanimously back the bill, one blocked it — and one of Cruz’s fellow Republicans at that.

There’s a place in Washington for both these kinds of politicians, one who wants to protect consumers and one who thinks the average device user is smart enough to figure it out. Ad it’s interesting to see them clash.

Cruz reminisced about “The Jetsons,” a 1960s animated TV show that depicted flying cars and other futuristic conveniences. He said America already has some of that kind of technology now, but it comes with pros and cons.

“With any technological advancement, there can be trade-offs, and for smart devices, one of the potential trade-offs is our privacy,” he said. He added that smart thermostats, though, have allowed electricity companies to control temperatures in the name of conserving energy.

“A lot of Americans don’t realize or expect that a growing number of smart household devices and appliances have cameras on them and microphones that can surreptitiously record families and transmit data,” Cruz said. “When you’re buying a new refrigerator, you don’t expect your fridge to record you, or listen to you, or spy on you without your knowledge.”

A bill requiring manufacturers to disclose whether their product also has spying capabilities seems like a simple, decent, bipartisan idea. But of course, there’s always someone who disagrees. In this case, it was Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.

“Far too often Congress operates under the delusion that we know what is best for the American consumer,” he said. “Instead of allowing market participants to determine the information they want, we seek to manipulate the free market to impose our preferences on private actors.”

Paul argued that the bill was federal overreach, not responding to any fraud or misrepresentation about products for sale.

“This bill mandates what manufacturers must tell consumers because it assumes that consumers are not sophisticated enough to make the judgment themselves,” Paul said. “If American consumers want more information about a product, they can be sure they will make it known. If a manufacturer wants to sell more of their products, you can be sure they will listen to the consumers.”

Cruz had already anticipated this and clarified that he didn’t think requiring a manufacturer to tell a consumer they’re spying on them falls under the category of too many mandates.

Both make some sense. Most people expect, by now, that their devices are listening to them, awaiting the magic word “Siri” or “Alexa.” But the air fryer on the counter? Sure, consumers could object and demand this information, but isn’t that what we elect our politicians to do — to act in our stead to our benefit? With Cruz’s legislation, it’s “one and done,” as they say.

On the other hand, Paul wasn’t entirely wrong, either, and he went far beyond nosey air fryers. Paul’s point was that the American people, at large, are pretty smart. We know what we want and we ask for what we don’t yet have. (However, there is always that one person who sues McDonald’s because their coffee was scalding hot while the rest of us are mumbling, of course coffee is hot.)

Still, Paul’s speech was also a basic explanation of supply and demand, the foundation of the free-market economy upon which our nation thrives.

There’s a place in Washington, D.C. for the politician like Cruz who’s out ahead of problems, plowing the way forward, trying to make things easier for the consumer (if also harder on the manufacturer). And there’s always going to be someone like Paul who’s asking everyone else to look at an issue differently.

When they collide it could mean compromise at best, or gridlock at worst.

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