House guts civil rights protections in privacy bill, sparking outrage

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House guts civil rights protections in privacy bill, sparking outrage

House guts civil rights protections in privacy bill, sparking outrage

As House lawmakers get ready to debate on Thursday a landmark proposal to restrict how companies collect and use personal data online, a last-minute decision to scrap civil rights protections from the bipartisan deal has enraged civil society groups and some Democrats.

Both in the last Congress and this year, key Democrats and Republicans have advanced sweeping bills that would for the first time create a federal data privacy law. Each time, they proposed language barring companies from collecting data in a way that “discriminates” against protected groups and requiring them to assess whether their algorithms risk harm to users.

The provisions were tucked into the American Privacy Rights Act and approved by a House subcommittee on a bipartisan basis as recently as May 23.

But House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders removed those sections entirely from the latest version of the bill unveiled last week, sparking massive blowback from civil rights groups who call that language essential to a national privacy framework.

“We are outraged over the decision to unilaterally strip any semblance of civil rights protections in the latest [version] of the American Privacy Rights Act,” said Maya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

David Stacy, vice president of government affairs at the Human Rights Campaign, called the exclusion “dangerous” and said it would be “devastating to communities across the country.”

David Brody, an attorney at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said that a “privacy bill that does not address discrimination is a house with no foundation.” Those and dozens of other groups on Tuesday urged lawmakers to table their consideration of the bill.

House Energy and Commerce on Thursday is set to mark up the privacy bill, alongside legislation to expand protections for children online. Spokespeople for Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and ranking Democrat Frank Pallone Jr. (N.J.) declined to comment.

The changes, which mark some of the most significant departures from previous privacy pacts, could threaten the effort’s tenuous bipartisan coalition.

“Privacy rights are civil rights, and I am very disappointed to see key civil rights protections and algorithmic accountability provisions removed from the recently released draft of the American Privacy Rights Act,” Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.), the chamber’s most outspoken advocate for expanding civil rights protections online, told Tech Brief.

Clarke said that despite the “setback,” she remained “hopeful” that lawmakers would be able to include the protections “as part of any comprehensive data privacy legislation.”

Clarke plans to offer an amendment to reinstate the civil rights provisions at Thursday’s markup and oppose the legislation if it is not adopted, according to a congressional staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the plans.

The House proposal is also facing opposition from government leaders in California, who have criticized that and earlier attempts to override their state’s own watershed data privacy law.

Rep. Nanette Barragán, a California Democrat who chairs the congressional Hispanic Caucus, said in a statement that she “already had concerns” that the bill would “would undermine the strong data privacy rights that Californians enjoy” as well as the state’s ability to pass new rules.

“The latest draft only deepens my concerns about the bill because critical civil rights provisions have been removed from the proposal,” she added.

The bill’s prospects for passage increasingly appear to be in dire straits.

The Senate has yet to formally introduce a companion measure, though Senate Commerce Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) previously agreed to an earlier version of the bill. The chamber has few legislative days left ahead of the 2024 election, which typically slows activity.

Axios, Politico and others have reported in recent weeks that House Republican leadership has been wary of advancing the privacy bill, which has faced opposition from industry groups who say it does not sufficiently override state laws and set a national standard. Industry groups have also criticized the bill for letting individuals directly sue companies over violations.

Both issues have been major sticking points for Republicans in the privacy talks for years.

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Daybook

• The House Energy and Commerce Committee holds a markup on bills, including the American Privacy Rights Act and the Kids Online Safety Act, Thursday at 10 a.m.
• The American Bar Association hosts a fireside chat with FTC Chair Lina Khan, Thursday at 11 a.m.

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