The House Energy and Commerce Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee held a hearing this week on the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA), a new draft bill that would institute a federal data privacy standard. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) announced the draft legislation last week.
APRA’s primary objective is to give consumers broad rights over how tech companies use their personal data, though it also includes limited state preemption provisions and allows for a private right of action. NATSO has long advocated for a federal standard that unilaterally preempts state laws and has opposed provisions that would allow for a private right of action.
Comprehensive privacy protection has been a shared bipartisan goal for years but has failed to advance. This is the latest indication that Congress is likely to continue aggressively pursuing privacy legislation for the foreseeable future.
In the Senate, Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-TX) has already indicated potential areas of opposition to the proposal, saying in a statement after its release that he “cannot support any data privacy bill that empowers trial lawyers, strengthens Big Tech by imposing crushing new regulatory costs on upstart competitors or gives unprecedented power to the FTC to become referees of internet speech and DEI compliance.”
In advance of the hearing, the Main Street Privacy Coalition, of which NATSO is a member, sent a letter to the Committee praising efforts to enact privacy legislation while also expressing concerns with the legislation.
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