Industry leaders and organizations are expressing their support for the recent progress in Congress on a federal data privacy bill. U.S. Senator Roger Wicker and U.S. Representatives Frank Pallone and Cathy McMorris Rodgers released a discussion draft on the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA) two weeks ago. On Tuesday, the House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection held a legislative hearing that discussed the bill.

This legislation is the first comprehensive data privacy and data security bill to be introduced with bipartisan and bicameral support and represents the best opportunity to pass federal privacy framework in decades. This bill would protect consumer data privacy and security and prevent companies from over-collecting and misusing American citizens’ data, all while protecting kids, empowering consumers, and providing strong enforcement mechanisms.

Here’s what they are saying:

Information Technology Industry Council (ITI)

“ITI commends Chairman Pallone, Ranking Member McMorris Rodgers, and Senator Wicker for your work on the American Data Protection and Privacy Act (ADPPA), the discussion draft that is the subject of today’s hearing. The technology sector has for several years shared your goal of enacting comprehensive federal privacy legislation, and the ADPPA represents welcome and tangible progress toward that goal. In terms of both its scope and potential impact, the draft bill represents not only a significant contribution to the evolving domestic and global conversation on privacy legislation, but arguably an inflection point on par with Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), due not only to robust protections it aspires to achieve for the American people but also for its wide-ranging and potentially disruptive impact on businesses across every sector of the U.S. economy and data innovation, including longstanding business models that have helped fuel the internet's development and corresponding economic growth,” said John Miller, Senior Vice President of Policy and General Counsel of ITI.

Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)

“The American Data Privacy and Protection Act presents Congress with the best opportunity it has had in decades to stop the very real harms that are happening online every minute of every day,” said Caitriona Fitzgerald, Deputy Director of EPIC.

Fair Play for Kids

“We are pleased that many top priorities to create a safer internet for children and families are included in the draft comprehensive privacy legislation released today. Most notably, the bill would ban data driven advertising to children under the age of 17. Surveillance advertising not only allows marketers to target young people’s greatest vulnerabilities, but it fuels a system that manipulates children and teens into spending too much time online and exposes them to harmful content. We are also glad to see additional protections for children and teens, including the establishment of a division of Youth Privacy and Marketing at the Federal Trade Commission.”

Common Sense Media

“On behalf of Common Sense Media, and its Co-Founder and CEO Jim Steyer, I believe that this committee, your counterpart in the Senate, and this Congress should do everything within your power, this year, to reach a historic agreement on comprehensive data privacy legislation, including strong protections for minors. We believe that the American Data Privacy Protection Act Draft (ADPPA Draft) lays the groundwork for achieving this goal. It is bipartisan and bi- cameral. It establishes important data protections with regard to civil rights. And it seeks to minimize the collection and sharing of minors’ data, which we have long maintained is the first and most important step to reducing online harms to kids and teens. We understand that this draft reflects a compromise, as is necessary in the legislative arena, and we appreciate how hard members of the House and Senate, on both sides of the aisle, have worked to get to this point. At the same time, it is our expectation that the Committee will seriously consider changes that we, and other organizations, are proposing to help this legislation better achieve its stated objectives. But there is no question that now is the time, once and for all, for Congress to come together to pass a strong national data privacy and security bill,” said Jolina Cuaresma, Senior Counsel, Privacy & Technology, Common Sense Media.

TechNet

“We’re more hopeful than we have been in years that a bipartisan privacy bill can make its way to the president’s desk this Congress,” said Carl Holshouser, Senior Vice President of TechNet.

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

“We are encouraged by the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, a bipartisan and bicameral effort to safeguard data privacy and civil rights online. Passing comprehensive privacy legislation would be a major advancement for the public good. The proposed bill includes a number of provisions that would protect the rights of all Americans, and some areas where we hope the legislation can be improved,” said David Brody, Managing Attorney, Digital Justice Initiative, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

ACT | The App Association

“Congress has never been closer to a compromise bill that would set a single, national set of rules for data privacy and security across all 50 states and the territories, while better protecting consumers and limiting unnecessary compliance costs and legal gamesmanship. We are especially pleased that Congress is taking meaningful steps toward a federal privacy framework, which policymakers should pursue to the exclusion of antitrust proposals that would manifestly weaken data privacy and security protections for your constituents.” Graham Dufault, Senior Director for Public Policy ACT | The App Association.

Future of Privacy Forum (FPF)

“FPF applauds Congress for advancing comprehensive privacy legislation. FPF has long recognized the need to enact a baseline, comprehensive federal privacy law that gives individuals meaningful privacy rights and places clear, workable obligations on businesses and other organizations that collect, use, and share personal data. A comprehensive federal law could address the gaps in the current U.S. sectoral approach to consumer privacy, which has resulted in incomplete legal protections. Personal information collected within specific sectors, such as credit reporting, finance, and healthcare, is subject to longstanding federal safeguards. In contrast, commercial data outside of these sectors remains largely unregulated even when the data may be equally sensitive or high-risk.

The ADPPA would achieve this. The legislation would require entities that handle personal data to adopt baseline privacy and security safeguards - including individual rights to access, delete, port, and correct personal data, as well as rights to opt out of targeted advertising and data transfers. The bill would apply to most organizations that handle personal data - commercial entities, common carriers, and non-profits. The ADPPA also includes additional requirements intended to address the unique challenges algorithmic technologies pose to civil rights while promoting the use of technology to identify and mitigate discrimination in appropriate circumstances,” said Bertram Lee, Senior Policy Counsel, Data Decision Making and Artificial Intelligence, FPF.

21^st Century Privacy Coalition

“The Coalition has advocated for comprehensive national privacy legislation for nearly a decade, and we have always believed that such legislation needs to be bipartisan to be successful. This discussion draft shows that there is potential for a bipartisan path forward on this urgently needed legislation,” said Maureen Ohlhausen, Co-Chair, 21^st Century Privacy Coalition. “This discussion draft incorporates a number of elements that the Coalition perceives as foundational in privacy legislation.”

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