House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA) joined KHQ in Spokane, Washington, to share the significance of the American Privacy Rights Act of 2024. The bipartisan, bicameral draft legislation will establish a national data privacy and security standard and give people the right to control their personal information online.

Highlights and excerpts of Chair Rodgers from the interview: 

ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL DATA PRIVACY STANDARD 

“We're giving people the right to control their personal information online by establishing this national, uniform standard across the states because what we're seeing is that we're having a patchwork of state laws develop.  

“This draft that Senator Cantwell and I have agreed to is stronger than any state law on the books.  

“It has really been the work of years in the House and the Senate, various members, but for us to be able to propose this draft bill that will give Americans control over where their information goes, who can sell it, it's empowering individuals to enforce their data privacy rights, it protects American civil rights, and it is reining in Big Tech.” 

OPPORTUNITY TO PROTECT PEOPLE’S PRIVACY RIGHTS 

“This is the best opportunity that we've had in years, almost two decades, to actually establish a national data privacy and security standard and give people the right to control their information online. 

“We do not have a national standard right now. We have some states that have taken action, but this is going to establish one national privacy standard that will protect Americans of all ages, no matter where they live in the US.  

“It's also going to prohibit Big Tech from tracking, predicting, and manipulating people for profit without their knowledge and consent, and it will strengthen protections for children, so what we include in this bill is real consequences if they're tracking kids data, creating dangerous algorithms, and using it to profit off of our children.  

“This is something that all Americans, but especially parents, want and they're looking to us, as their elected officials, to act.” 

HOLDING BIG TECH ACCOUNTABLE 

“It's also important to make it very clear that this is only if you're a business that is selling the data.  

“We don't want to go after small businesses, so we have a threshold, and if you're a business that isn't selling the data, you would be protected under this law.  

[...]

“Right now, there's too many examples where [Big Tech] has tracked, manipulated or targeted individuals, children, and others."

GIVING AMERICANS CONTROL OVER THEIR DATA 

“The legislation will minimize the amount of data that a company can collect, keep, and use from the very beginning.  

“Oftentimes, sometimes [companies] will need [personalized data] to provide products and services but oftentimes they're going beyond what they actually need.  

[...]

“If [your data is] being sold, [people] will have a right to be able to opt-out.  

“So, this bill is going to stop people's personal information from being shared or sold without them even knowing it.” 

ADVANCING THE AMERICAN PRIVACY RIGHTS ACT 

“I believe that this is a very important moment.  

“We've been working for years, in the House and the Senate, to pass a bill.  

“We need to get this bill on the President's desk to implement national data privacy rights for all Americans.  

“As the Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee in the House, I plan to move forward in regular order, have hearings, give stakeholders and other members an opportunity to give their input, and then work it through the markups where various members can participate.  

“I believe that's going to also be important to the ultimate success of this bill, but I do believe that this is a historic moment.  

“It's very important, and I'm really encouraged that Senator Cantwell and I coming from Washington state have been able to agree on a draft bill that we can move forward, and our goal is ultimately to get it on the President's desk.” 

CLICK HERE to watch the full interview.