Second, it is difficult to make inferences about why Congress did not do something. This is a well-established principle of statutory construction. The Video Privacy Protection Act did not provide for access, but Congress never voted down an access amendment. It just was not included, perhaps because no one thought about it or for other reasons that have nothing to do with substance. Third, it is well known that the legislative process has a considerable degree of randomness to it.
Statutes go through the process and have differences that make little sense.
They are the products of the individuals who were engaged in drafting them, and the differences do not always reflect reasoned judgments. Access Option 3 has no factual justification to support its premise that access is without value. Finally, the lack of standards in Access Option 3 is incompatible with industry calls for self-regulation. If self-regulation is to be meaningful at all, it must be conducted under a clear set of rules and policies that all can see and evaluate. Access Option 3 is an option that denies accountability for privacy.