On June 14, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing on "Protecting America's Consumers: Bipartisan Legislation to Strengthen Data Privacy and Security." During the hearing, there was unanimous agreement among members on the importance of enacting legislation that protects the privacy rights of all Americans, albeit with some concerns regarding unintended burden on small businesses. Primarily, this hearing discussed the recently introduced legislation, the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA), a bipartisan and bicameral bill that aims to introduce a national standard for data privacy.

Lawmakers heard testimony from a panel of eight witnesses, each praising the draft ADPPA legislation for the progress it represented toward greater data protection and privacy. The witnesses commended the bill's emphasis on data minimization, inclusion of language that protects children, provision for a private right of action, and the greater powers it affords the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general to carry out their responsibilities as stipulated in the bill. However, the witnesses also suggested necessary changes to be made to the draft ADPPA to ensure it achieves its intended goals. Some of the prominent concerns include the need for greater definitional clarity; increased resources allocated to the FTC; and greater consideration of the impacts of some provisions as currently drafted, such as targeted advertising or preemption.

More information is available here.

Additional information is also available in the attached Tax Alert.

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Hearing on protecting America’s consumers