US lawmakers unveil plans to give all Americans the right to online privacy

US lawmakers unveil plans to give all Americans the right to online privacy

Two top US lawmakers have reached a bipartisan deal that could, for the first time, give all Americans basic rights to digital privacy and create national laws that regulate how companies can collect, share and use Americans’ online data.

If it passes, the proposal could create a landmark European Union privacy law equivalent to the US known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and curb what privacy advocates say is an unregulated and uncontrolled space in which personal data Americans can be too easy. shared and sold to the highest bidder.

The proposed agreement would create an unprecedented single federal standard governing digital privacy in the United States and represents a significant breakthrough after years of stalled negotiations between Republicans and Democrats. But it can also override some of the toughest state-based privacy laws in the country, such as in California.

The deal comes as personal data is increasingly at the heart of the modern economy and as artificial intelligence companies have raced to get as much of it as possible to train sophisticated AI models that could transform society.

On Sunday, the lawmakers involved – Washington Senator Maria Cantwell, the Democratic chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Washington Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the Republican who heads the House Energy and Commerce Committee – announced proposals they said would restore control over personal data. to American consumers.

The discussion draft, released over the weekend but not yet formally introduced as legislation, covers data brokers, technology platforms, telecommunications providers and almost every other type of organization that might interact with internet users every day, except for small businesses and government contractors.

The American Privacy Act proposed by lawmakers would prohibit the transfer of Americans’ sensitive personal data to third parties — including geolocation history, financial data, biometric information and calendar and phone logs — unless the user gives express approval for the data or the sharing for one of several specific purposes permitted under the bill, such as preventing fraud.

It would allow users to opt out of targeted advertising altogether and require companies to collect only enough data as they need to run their business. And it would guarantee the right of Americans to request a copy of their data, to correct it or even to delete it from company records.

And, in response to growing concerns about whether Americans’ personal data might be available to foreign adversaries like China and Russia, the law requires companies to disclose to US consumers whether their information may be sent to, stored or processed in one of those countries. US officials have voiced concerns over whether TikTok user data can be accessed by the Chinese government, but it doesn’t stop there: The Biden administration and US lawmakers have also highlighted data brokers as another potential way for foreign governments to obtain Americans’ personal data . .

The draft legislation breaks a years-long standoff between Republicans and Democrats over the scope of any national privacy bill. The two sides have long disagreed on two key issues: Whether federal privacy laws should override existing state privacy laws that may provide stricter protections, and whether private citizens should be able to bring their own lawsuits. themselves against companies accused of violating their privacy.

This week’s agreement appears to resolve both issues. It would precede more than a dozen state privacy laws already on the books in states like California, Texas and Virginia. And it would allow individuals to sue companies for violating the proposed law.

“This bipartisan, bicameral draft legislation is the best opportunity we’ve had in decades to establish national data privacy and security standards that give people the right to control their personal information,” McMorris Rodgers and Cantwell said in a statement.

The legislation has a long way to go: It still must clear both legislative committees and pass both chambers of the Kongres to get to President Joe Biden’s desk. Policy experts have predicted a low chance of Congress passing much of the legislation in the months leading up to the 2024 election.

McMorris Rodgers has also announced he will not run for re-election, which could complicate the bill’s future after one of its most powerful co-sponsors leaves the House.