House Republicans released a draft privacy bill Wednesday that would create a national privacy standard to protect internet users’ personal information and data by creating a new dedicated bureau within the Federal Trade Commission.
House Energy and Commerce Republicans’ Control our Data Act calls for the creation of a Bureau of Consumer Privacy and Data Security within the trade commission that would be staffed with at least 250 people, including at least 25 technologists and five psychologists, to help tackle privacy- and data-related issues primarily with Big Tech platforms such as Facebook, Google, and TikTok.
Many tech giants have come under fire for their controversial data-gathering and usage practices that often secretly infringe on users’ privacy.
Both parties favor establishing a national privacy standard and holding Big Tech companies more accountable for how they gather and use the data they collect.
“This national standard will provide clear rules of the road and give Americans the same data protections wherever they go,” Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the top Republican on the committee, said in a statement. “Privacy does not end at state lines and Americans deserve better than a patchwork of different and conflicting state laws.”
MAJORITY OF VOTERS WANT TAX ON BIG TECH FOR PERSONAL DATA COLLECTION
The bill’s proposed bureau within the FTC would also have at least two psychologists who have experience “in the well-being of children and teens,” a provision that reflects the recent controversies about teenagers’ mental health and social media targeting young users that Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and her trove of internal company documents highlighted in the past few weeks.
Both parties agree the trade commission’s Consumer Protection Bureau, which handles privacy-related issues, is woefully understaffed, especially in comparison to other countries.
Democrats on the committee have already submitted legislation for a new bureau for privacy within the FTC in their partisan infrastructure spending package, but Republicans criticized the proposal for being too broad, partisan, and potentially wasteful.
The Republican bill would also give the trade commission new authority to fine tech giants that unfairly gather and use user data up to $100,000 per violation on the first offense.
However, the bill would not allow individual users to sue the tech companies over violations and grievances, much like the Senate Republicans’ privacy bill, the SAFE DATA Act.
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The legislation includes a requirement for online data brokers to self-identify as such on their websites and also register with the trade commission and share relevant data and information with the agency for user safety.
