U.S. Federal Legislation on Data Privacy Unlikely This Year

Written by: Richard Sheinis, Esq.

With the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) ready to go into effect in 2020, and other states lined up to follow with similar legislation, there has been a greater push for a federal privacy law.  Unless there is a federal privacy law that supersedes state law, businesses will be in the unenviable position of having to navigate the requirements of a myriad of state laws.  The large tech companies have been strong supporters of federal privacy legislation, which is also expected to be less onerous on businesses than the California law.  According to Reuters, a draft of a privacy bill could still be released this year, but there will be numerous aspects of the bill to negotiate, including whether it will, in fact, pre-empt state laws.