The US Finally Has a Chance for a Federal Privacy Law. It Should Take It

upstart writes:

The US Finally Has A Chance For A Federal Privacy Law. It Should Take It:

Strong privacy rights are a crucial first step to a healthy and productive online ecosystem. The European Union figured this out years ago, enacting the General Data Protection Regulation. In contrast, the U.S., the land of tech innovation, is tripping over its own feet at the finish line and hoping nobody notices we'll be without a consistent and consequential law protecting internet users for at least a few more years. It's well past time to put politics and personal gripes aside and bring up the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA) for a vote in the House of Representatives before the end of the year.

We're a few weeks into the lame-duck congressional session, and any progress made in House ADPPA negotiations is at best secret, at worst non-existent. With so many disillusioned by the state of governing in the US, it would be easy to shrug this off as the usual gridlock.

But this impasse defies political logic-we are well past the point of principled opposition, competing ideological stances, or genuine concern for internet users. It must be emphasized over and over again: the main debates that kept comprehensive federal privacy legislation from happening are mostly settled. Republicans agreed to a limited (but significant) private right of action, meaning that users have a right to sue companies for violating their privacy rights. Democrats have overwhelmingly agreed to a federal preemption clause that still preserves many state-level privacy laws, though not hypothetical future legislation.

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