A bill backed by a Florida congressman “that creates a uniform, national privacy standard for all Americans, providing more individual control over their data” is headed to the U.S. House floor.
Last week, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced the “American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA)” to the full House on a 53-2 vote. The only opposition came from California Democrats U.S. Reps. Nanette Diaz Barragán and Anna Eshoo.
The bill has the committee leadership’s backing. U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-NJ, the chairman of the committee, introduced the bill and its backers include U.S. Reps. Cathy Morris Rodgers, R-Wash., who leads Republicans on the committee. Other backers include U.S. Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., the chairwoman of the U.S. House Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee and U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., who leads Republicans on it.
Those four members of the House released a statement last week after they got the bill through the committee.
“Today’s vote has been years in the making and is a major step forward in our bipartisan effort to establish national data privacy protections for all Americans,” they said. “The American Data Privacy and Protection Act puts people back in control of their online data. It creates a strong national standard that will finally minimize the amount of Americans’ information companies are allowed to collect, process, and transfer. This will rein in Big Tech’s power and establish clear, robust protections for people, especially children. Under our solution, companies will face real consequences if they track our kids’ data or use that information to exploit them for profit.
“We’re grateful to our colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their valuable contributions throughout the committee process and look forward to continuing to work together to bring this national standard for privacy to the House floor soon,” they added.
Bilirakis also weighed in on the bill last week.
“I am glad to see this historic and long-overdue legislation finally advancing. As we work to safeguard all Americans’ sensitive data, I am particularly pleased with a major component of this bill that will provide enhanced online, privacy protections for children,” said Bilirakis. “The bill strengthens protections for kids by banning targeted advertising for children under 17, and provides transparency and accountability for Big Tech companies by prohibiting them from tracking users’ sensitive information without their consent. It also creates a new Youth Privacy Division at FTC to provide ongoing recommendations on how Congress can strengthen online safety for children.
“Additionally, given that American TikTok users’ sensitive data has been repeatedly accessed by the Chinese without any notification or consent, provisions of our bill will increase transparency and user disclosure requirements regarding any contact with adversarial governments. I am hopeful my colleagues will help move important bipartisan bills forward through the House Floor and work with me to get them across the finish line,” he added.
While the bill is headed to the House floor, there is no companion measure over in the U.S. Senate.
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