Issue 3: The day the ADPPA died lolz

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This week, PrivacyTwitter had plenty of hot takes on the American Data Protection & Privacy Act dying in Senator Maria Cantwell’s hands, and COPPA 2.0 moving through the Senate. Read on for deets!

Remember that time we thought we were a few votes away from passing federal privacy legislation here in the U.S.? Lolz. What fools! Even I got duped into believing the American Data Privacy and Protection Act had a shot. Well that all changed this week. And PrivacyTwitter lost its collective mind. Here’s what I mean, and David Stauss saw it, too:

https://twitter.com/StaussDavid/status/1552092213370269698?s=20&t=idZEzEQD_kDxuBCjXzUFMQ

Here’s what happened first. Everyone was super excited about the House Energy & Commerce Committee passing ADPPA on to a full House vote. Even I, a massive Scorpio and pessimist, started to get a little sparkle in my eye about it.

Then, California started making some noise.

Y’all are on your own, we good

House lawmakers from California, the California Attorney General, and even the California Privacy Protection Agency said it wasn’t going to support the ADPPA in the long run. In fact, the CPPA said it would address “Possible Action” (its caps not mine) regarding any federal bill aiming to pre-empt all of California’s hard work on privacy. It said California’s laws are stronger, and it said the ADPPA, as written, wouldn’t allow the CPPA to enforce the law in California.

Rest of the nation: We want rights, too

California’s reaction. didn’t sit well with some. As many lawmakers have said during this federal bill process, the perfect shouldn’t be the enemy of the good. So while it finally seemed like the Republicans and the Democrats had gone to couples’ therapy and figured out a compromise on this pre-emption issue, the California delegation, Rep. Anna Eshoo, a Democrat from California, and others put a big old lampoon in the belly of this white whale we call the ADPPA. This means – for the foreseeable future – the rest of the country’s citizens don’t enjoy the same protections as Californians.

Like a cat with a field mouse, Cantwell kills ADPPA dead

This pre-emption battle finally led to the big news on Thursday, July 28, that despite the ADPPA’s progress in the House of Representatives, the Senate wasn’t even going to glance at the ADPPA. That news came from Politico’s Cristiano Lima, who reported Cantwell wasn’t even going to mark up the ADPPA in her Senate committee. Now, we all knew Cantwell was going to be the sticking point. But to not even take the text for an edit or two, wow! She told Lima, according to his report, “Don’t take the bait on a weak bill.”

C’mon Cantwell. Can’t we, well, talk?

According to both Politico’s reporting, as well as this piece by the Spokesman-Review (out of Cantwell’s homestate of Washington), Cantwell wants stronger enforcement. The report states, “Cantwell said she couldn’t support the bipartisan framework unless House lawmakers add tougher enforcement measures, including limits on forced arbitration and a broad right for individuals to sue companies that violate the law.”

Cantwell specifically said, “The problem is it’s taking the House a long time to come to reality about what strong enforcement looks like,” Cantwell said. “If you’re charitable, you call it ignorance. If you think that it’s purposeful, it literally won’t pass the House because they just won’t meet the test of what a strong federal bill looks like.”

But hey, the kids are alright?

So, bummer on the federal privacy bill. But hey, there are two children’s privacy bills moving through the Senate! Because everyone loves kids. Watch these bills, which – taken together – would bring the U.S. closer to the EU’s GDPR standards on protecting children. They next move for a full Senate vote.

See you next week for updates!