Yet Another Senator Introduces Data Privacy Legislation

Written by: Richard Sheinis, Esq.

Last month I wrote about the need for federal data privacy legislation.  Although numerous Senators have introduced such legislation, nothing much seems to happen after the initial introduction.  Adding to the list, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) is introducing the Digital Accountability and Transparency to Advance (DATA) Privacy Act.  There does not seem to be much new here as Senator Cortez Masto also introduced the Digital Accountability and Transparency to Advance (DATA) Privacy Act in 2019.  The 2019 Bill and the 2021 Bill both go by the name of the DATA Privacy Act.

The DATA Privacy Act would only apply to companies that process the personal information of 50,000 or more individuals and devices during any 12 month period.  The Act would allow consumers to opt out of certain personal data collections, and opt-in consent would be required for using a consumer’s personal information for anything other than the consumer’s relationship with the business.

A key shortcoming of the DATA Privacy Act is that it allows states to have laws that are more onerous or require obligations over and above those imposed by the DATA Privacy Act.  Allowing state laws to impose additional data processing burdens on companies, over and above obligations imposed by federal legislation is a drain on businesses and would not alleviate the current issue of leaving businesses in a privacy compliance quagmire.

The fact that Senator Cortez Masto is introducing retread legislation is another sign that Congress is not serious about data privacy.