Americans are one step closer to controlling what personal data tech companies acquire and how they use it, after lawmakers from both sides of the aisle across two congressional committees released draft national privacy legislation Sunday after years of debate.
Congress Is one step closer to enacting online privacy restrictions for internet users.
A draft of a data privacy bill known as the American Privacy Rights Act was released Sunday by Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and House Energy and Commerce Committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., which includes a number of policies that give internet users agency in the data sharing process.
The measure will create one national standard that gives individuals control over where their personal information is sent and allows internet users to opt out of targeted advertising.
The draft legislation restricts the data companies collect, keep and use to only that which companies “actually need to provide products and services,” and stops companies from using individuals’ personal information to discriminate against them.
If enacted, individuals will have to be notified when their data is transferred to foreign adversaries and will also be able to stop companies from using personal data if that company changes its privacy policy.
The draft legislation allows consumers to sue if their privacy rights are violated, creates a new privacy office at the Federal Trade Commission and permits state attorneys general to enforce the legislation.
“This is a historic piece of legislation that we’ve been working on for several years,” McMorris Rodgers said in an interview with the Spokesman Review. “Online privacy protections shouldn’t differ across state lines. What we see is a patchwork of state laws developing, and this draft that Sen. Cantwell and I have agreed to will establish privacy protections that are stronger than any state law on the books.”
Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., who is the ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, applauded the draft legislation but said there are “key areas” where the bill can be strengthened including children’s privacy.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who serves as the ranking member on the Senate Commerce Committee, has not publicly commented on the draft legislation and did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment.
Reports last week said committee leaders were nearing an agreement on draft legislation after years of negotiations and failed attempts at a national framework for privacy protections. Republicans working on the efforts have called for a federal law that would unify state rules and Democrats have argued that states should be allowed to go past any federal rules. The committees got close to an agreement in 2022, but the measure proposed by McMorris Rodgers and Pallone was ultimately opposed by Cantwell. While members of congress have debated federal regulations, some states have gone ahead and passed their own privacy laws. In 2018, California passed a strict data privacy law that allows online consumers to know what personal information businesses collect and who it is sold to, among other things. The measure was updated last year, to give consumers the right to limit the use and disclosure of sensitive data and the right to correct any inaccurate data a business collected about consumers. Other states including Virginia, Utah, Colorado and Connecticut have also enacted data privacy laws. Laws regulating data privacy will go into effect in a handful of other states later this year.
While the draft legislation has the bipartisan support of Cantwell and McMorris Rodgers, it will still need to pass both chambers of Congress.