The push to pass an online privacy law in Congress just gotten stronger, with two Silicon Valley Democrats in Congress introducing a bill that would create a Digital Privacy Agency.
Democratic Reps. Anna Eshoo and Zoe Lofgren introduced the Online Privacy Act, which would create several new privacy regulations for U.S. businesses to comply with. The bill would create a 1,600-person agency to enforce the rules, with a maximum fine of $42,530 for each privacy violation, mirroring the maximum fines available to the Federal Trade Commission.
“Every American is vulnerable to privacy violations with few tools to defend themselves. Too often, our private information online is stolen, abused, used for profit, or grossly mishandled,” Eshoo said.
The bill would require companies collecting personal data to give consumers access to the data collected and the right to correct it or have it deleted. Consumers could also request a human review of automated decisions based on their data, and companies would need to get opt-in permission from each consumer to use personal data in automated algorithm-based decision-making.
The Online Privacy Act, according to a one-page summary from Eshoo’s office, would prohibit companies from using private communications such as web traffic and email for advertisements “or other invasive purposes,” and it would require them to “use objectively understandable” consent processes and privacy policies.
The bill would also allow individual lawsuits against companies for privacy violations, an idea opposed by many business groups and congressional Republicans. The legislation would not preempt state privacy laws, another point of contention in Congress.
Some internet trade groups have been publicly silent about individual privacy bills in Congress. The Internet Association, representing Amazon, Facebook, Google, and other companies, has called for a privacy law that provides transparency about companies’ data-handling practices and gives consumers more control over their data, but it also wants a national privacy framework that is “consistent throughout all states, preempting state consumer privacy and data security laws.”
The Online Privacy Act joins more than a dozen privacy bills introduced in Congress in 2019, including the Mind Your Own Business Act, introduced in the Senate in October. Although more bills are being introduced, Congress appears to be hung up over issues like preemption of state laws and private lawsuits against companies.
Although several privacy advocates praised the bill, other experts questioned it. The bill may be well-intentioned but is likely to be of limited benefit to consumers, said Jordan Greene, a partner at New York digital marketing firm Mella Media.
“If passed, the early winners will be attorneys, as this will create a flood of lawsuits against all kinds of companies and will hurt businesses and stifle innovation until there is much more clarification,” he said. “We have seen this movie before.”
The bill is also likely to leave enforcement gaps, he added. “Politicians defining the true intricacies of digital data will leave open inevitable loopholes.”
But Megan Upperman, analytics manager at Minneapolis digital marketing agency Augurian, voiced support for the bill.
“The recklessness with which many companies collect and distribute your personal information goes much deeper than the popular conversation suggests,” she said. “Part of the reason the national conversation is far from reflective of reality is that so few people in leadership positions — or with a speaking platform — really understand how this data is collected and used.”
Upperman said she doubts the bill will hurt U.S. companies because many already have to comply with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. “There will probably folks who disagree, but those folks are likely libertarians who believe in letting folks be responsible for their own privacy and just don’t want to spend the money to get into compliance,” she added. “As the bill stands now, it’s a very modest change in expectations resulting in a promising step in the right direction for consumers.”
