The tentative agreement is expected to broker a compromise between congressional Democrats and Republicans by pre-empting state data protection laws and creating a mechanism for individuals to sue companies that violate their privacy. the official said. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chairmen of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee, will announce the deal next week. It's planned.
Spokespeople for each commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Friday.
News of the expected deal was first reported This was reported by the political newspaper Punchbowl News.
Lawmakers have been trying to pass a comprehensive federal privacy law for more than two decades, but negotiations between the two chambers have repeatedly broken down due to partisan squabbles over the scope of the protections. A growing number of states are trying to fill the gap, with more than a dozen passing their own privacy laws.
Republicans have long argued that federal laws should be harmonized with state standards, while Democrats have called for states to be able to act beyond federal protections. Opinions are also sharply divided on whether consumers can sue over violations themselves, with Democrats supporting such provisions and Republicans opposing them.
Last Congress, leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and top Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee seemingly cleared these hurdles, with Democrats agreeing to preempt some state laws and Republicans granting limited rights. An agreement was reached on the proposed proposal. A consumer's right to sue, known as a private right of action.
But Cantwell publicly rejected the proposal, casting doubt on the bill's prospects for passage. House members advanced the bill out of committee, but the proposal was never brought to the floor after opposition from California Democrats, including then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. That measure, the U.S. Data Privacy and Protection Act, has not been reintroduced this Congress.
Details of the latest framework are sparse, and support from McMorris Rodgers and Cantwell does not guarantee the bill will pass both houses of Congress. But the agreement both sides hope will mark the first time the chairs of the two powerful Commerce Committees, which oversee broad internet policy, will agree on a major consumer privacy bill.
Lawmakers have been trying to pass a federal privacy law for years, but the effort has gained momentum in recent years due to increased scrutiny in Washington of the data collection practices of tech companies.
The federal government already has laws in place that protect people's health and financial data, in addition to protecting children's personal data, but it also protects the vast majority of data that companies collect, use, and sell online. There are no comprehensive standards to regulate it.
Meanwhile, about six years have passed since the European Union began introducing its own standards that put limits on companies' collection practices.
