LOS
ANGELES, May 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ahead of the
bill's markup Thursday, Consumer Watchdog sent a letter to the
Chairs of the House Energy & Commerce Committee and the
Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee addressing the flaws of
the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) and how it would weaken data
privacy rights for Californians.
Because of preemption language in the proposed bill, APRA
would wipe away years of progress made in California and in nearly 20 states that have
passed similar laws across the country, stated the advocacy
group. Nearly 10 million Californians voted for strong data
privacy rights when they passed CPRA. CPRA is unique because it
gives Californians a baseline of rights that can be improved upon
over time, but cannot be eroded by legislators, said Consumer
Watchdog.
"APRA would put a lid on California's progress in the data privacy
space, likely never to be opened again," said Justin Kloczko, tech and privacy advocate at
Consumer Watchdog.
Read the letter here.
Under the bill, the authority of California's top privacy enforcer, the
California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA), would be greatly
reduced, said Consumer Watchdog. It will be replaced with the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is in the middle of many
important antitrust battles and does not gain additional funding
under APRA, stated Consumer Watchdog. Per the bill, the FTC will
have two years from when the law is enacted to draft
regulations.
"That's a lot of time for people's data to change hands and for
rogue algorithms to do damage," said Kloczko. "Technological
innovation moves fast. But Californians have protections right
now."
The bill is similar to the American Data and Privacy Protection
Act (ADPPA) of 2022, which stalled after then-House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi raised concerns about
it. Last month, Sen. Maria Cantwell
(D-WA), and Rep. Cathy McMorris
Rodgers (R-WA) unveiled APRA, which would give Americans
rights surrounding how companies use, share or sell their data.
But it takes away strong rights in California, many of which are in effect right
now, including:
- Opt out rights in effect right now. The ability to limit the
use of sensitive personal information, to opt out of the sharing
and selling of your personal information for targeted advertising,
to know how personal information is used by businesses, and the
ability to correct or delete it are all protections Californians
would lose for years were this bill approved.
- Protections for sensitive information, such as sexual
orientation, union membership, and immigration status. APRA
does not include those categories in the definition of sensitive
covered data.
- Protections against profiling.
- Protections against targeted advertising. Under APRA, service
providers will still be able to combine data to execute targeted
advertising.
- Protections against companies that collect or share data with a
local or federal agency. Service providers are exempt
under APRA.
- Progress made surrounding artificial intelligence and automated
decision-making technology. The CA privacy agency is currently
drafting landmark rules surrounding a right to opt-out of the use
of personal information with respect to training automated
decisions.
- A stronger private right of action for data breaches. APRA
would move all cases to federal court, where it is harder for
consumers to seek remedies.
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SOURCE Consumer Watchdog