US Online Privacy Bill Gets Bipartisan Support

Several House and Senate leaders from both parties will be moving forward with online privacy legislation, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) wrote Friday (June 3), which would put limits on how consumer data can be collected by companies.

One lawmaker who hasn’t signed on is Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who is looking at similar legislation that would give consumers more ways to sue over violations. However, it might be a hard sell for Republicans, who have concerns surrounding business and the possibility for encouraging litigation, sources told the Journal.

The bills have some differences, with the bipartisan one having less limits than Cantwell’s for mandatory arbitration for privacy disputes. It would bar them for minors, however, and they’d have different specifics of guardrails they’d impose on the collection and use of data.

The report said there have been negotiations between the Democratic chairs and top Republicans of the House and Senate commerce committees, with backers of the bipartisan draft reportedly hoping Cantwell can be convinced to join their side.

While the rift could be temporary, it could end up falling through without making changes. The fact that there are two separate bills being mulled show the government’s interest in changing online privacy standards.

That comes after a number of controversies surrounding the way companies use peoples’ private data. The report noted that the U.S. doesn’t have a comprehensive online privacy legislation, which is unusual.

PYMNTS wrote that the California Privacy Protection Agency recently released a draft of privacy regulation, which will come with directions on the sale and sharing of personal information — though said critics have said this measure doesn’t address some key factors.

See also: California Privacy Bill Draft Sidesteps Key Personal Data Collection Issues

The draft paper doesn’t have a clear definition of what’s “reasonably necessary and proportionate” for businesses to collect data for. According to the report, the draft’s only clarification is that it’s “what an average consumer would expect when the personal information is collected.”