Privacy for America Statement on Senator Cantwell’s Data Privacy Legislation

The announcement today from Senators Cantwell, Klobuchar, Schatz and Markey constitutes a thoughtful contribution towards a comprehensive federal privacy bill. The bill contains concrete language providing important consumer protections, and it offers a solid basis for discussion moving forward. Privacy for America shares the common goal of providing strong protections for consumers that would stop practices that put personal data at risk of breach or misuse. At the same time, Privacy for America is concerned that, as currently constructed, the bill would allow a patchwork of state laws and not produce the strong, single set of consumer protections that would preserve the economies of scale, consumer benefits, and innovation that accompany the responsible use of data. We remain committed to working across both sides of the aisle to reach common ground and make comprehensive privacy protections a reality in this Congress.