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Financial Services Law Insights and Observations

House committee advances comprehensive consumer privacy bill

Privacy, Cyber Risk & Data Security U.S. House Data Data Collection / Aggregation American Data Privacy and Protection Act Federal Legislation

Privacy, Cyber Risk & Data Security

On July 20, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce voted 53-2 to send H.R. 8152, the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, to the House floor. As previously covered by a Buckley Special Alert, a draft of the bill was released in June, which would, among other things, require companies to collect the least amount of data possible to provide services, implement special protections for minors, and allocate enforcement responsibilities to the FTC. The bill has been revised from its initial draft to allow consumers to bring lawsuits after notifying certain state and federal regulators beginning two years after the law takes effect, which is different from the four-year wait period proposed in the draft. Additionally, the current patchwork of five state privacy laws would be preempted, although under the revised bill California's new privacy agency would be allowed to enforce the federal law. The revised bill also includes a provision that narrows the scope of algorithmic impact assessments required of large data holders to focus on algorithms that pose a “consequential risk of harm.” Additionally, the revised bill includes a more expansive definition of “sensitive data” to include browsing history, race, ethnicity, religion and union membership. It also sets a tiered system of responsibility depending on the size of companies for data related to people under 17.