A new US data privacy bill aims to give you more control over information collected about you – and make businesses change how they handle data
EDITORS’ NOTE: The American Data and Privacy Protection Act (ADPPA) measure allows the collection of personal data when reasonably necessary to do so by providing a product or service, yet it also structures how certain companies can collect your data. The legislation also allows private right of action, which allows citizens to seek damages if there is found to be a violation of their ADPPA rights. Cell phone carriers and internet providers, along with any company who collects personal data, is included in the applicable “covered” entities who handle “covered” data: any information that can be reasonably linked to a single person. The ADPPA won’t be a shock to most companies, as the European Union’s General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) had forced stratification of many criteria the ADPPA enforces. Accessing appointments, public transit and financial institutions now preclude access to an internet-capable device. What is collected and how is extremely important in environments, like Brooklyn, where tech is ever-present.
Data privacy in the U.S. is, in many ways, a legal void. While there are limited protections for health and financial data, the cradle of the world’s largest tech companies, like Apple, Amazon, Google, and Meta (Facebook), lacks any comprehensive federal data privacy law. This leaves U.S. citizens with minimal data privacy protections compared with citizens of other nations. But that may be about to change.
With rare bipartisan support, the American Data and Privacy Protection Act moved out of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce by a vote of 53-2 on July 20, 2022. The bill still needs to pass the full House and the Senate, and negotiations are ongoing. Given the Biden administration’s responsible data practices strategy, White House support is likely if a version of the bill passes.