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A federal secrecy bill gaining momentum in the House faces much tougher challenges in the Senate as the Democratic leadership does not support the bipartisan proposal.
As the House Energy and Commerce Committee reviewed the American Data and Privacy Protection Act on Thursday, the Democratic chair of the Senate Commerce Committee suggested that lawmakers were wasting their time.
Washington Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell did not approve the bill and stated that Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer would not do so either.
“Chuck Schumer said there’s no way they’re going to bring this bill to the Senate so they can get back to the table on something strong,” Cantwell told The Washington Post on Wednesday.
According to the drafters, the privacy bill announced this month is Frank Pallone, a New Jersey Democrat; Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington state Republican; and Senator Roger Wicker, Mississippi Republican. Mr Pallone and Ms Rodgers represent the bipartisan leadership of the House committee that determined the secrecy law on Thursday.
Ms. Cantwell voiced concerns about enforcement issues and the way privacy law has already addressed states with a weaker federal standard.
Mr. Pallone defended the law’s provisions in a memo before Thursday’s review, writing that the Federal Trade Commission is the regulator tasked with enforcing the law. The bill would create a new FTC privacy bureau that would become fully operational within a year of transition.
“The law provides three enforcement tools – the FTC, state attorneys general and state privacy officials, and a private litigation right,” Mr Pallone said in the note. “The FTC can face fines for all violations of the law. State attorneys general and privacy authorities can file violations of the law in federal court for injunctive relief; receive compensation, fines, compensation or other compensation; and to receive reasonable attorneys’ fees and other litigation costs.”
The proposal also targets algorithms that rank people’s data. Mr Pallone wrote that the bill would require data owners to submit annual algorithmic impact assessments that describe the design of the algorithms, the data used, and the steps to mitigate harm, among other things.
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