House Lawmakers Pull Comprehensive Privacy Markup
Summary
Following the House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Innovation Subcommittee’s approval of the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) discussion draft in May, the bipartisan leadership of the E&C Committee in June unveiled a third iteration of the bill, shortly before canceling its planned full committee markup in light of Republicans’ significant opposition to the bill’s private right of action. That version eliminated the provision related to civil rights and algorithmic decision making (ADMT), as well as the provision allowing consumers to opt out of consequential decisions by entities using algorithms.
Full Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) issued a statement attributing the cancellation to House GOP leaders, stating, “It’s outrageous that Republican Leadership would interfere with the Committee’s bipartisan regular order process. I commend Chair Rodgers for her dedication to giving Americans back control of their data… I’m committed to continuing to work with Chair Rodgers—we’re not giving up.”
Full Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) stated, “For every parent, for individual liberty, and for the future of this country, we will continue our pursuit to give Americans privacy rights online.”
