US Congresswoman proposes national data privacy law

Washington DC congresswoman Suzan DelBene has introduced legislation that would create a national data privacy law in the US.

With no federal law currently in place to protect the data of US citizens, a number of states have enacted their own legislation to do so instead.

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) was enacted in 2018, for instance, while Massachusetts has its own Data Breach Notification Act.

Patchwork confusion

DelBene this week (March 10) introduced her proposal for the Information Transparency and Personal Data Control Act that she argued would “will bring our laws into the 21st Century”.

DelBene wrote in a statement: “In our digital world, a patchwork of different state laws will lead to confusion for people and businesses.

“A national standard is necessary to establish a uniform set of rights for consumers and create one set of rules for businesses to operate in.”

The proposed law would protect personal information related to finance, health, biometrics, geolocation, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, citizenship and immigration status, and social security numbers.

It will also govern how the information of citizens under the age of 13 is kept safe.

The bill will require organizations to provide privacy policies in what it deems ‘plain English’ and will mandate that consumers must opt-in before their data can be used.

Organizations will have to disclose when and how consumers’ personal information will be shared and undertake privacy audits, conducted by an independent third party, every two years.

The Daily Swig has reached out to Congresswoman DelBene’s office for further comment.

Source: https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/us-congresswoman-proposes-national-data-privacy-law