Commerce Committee Approves 2 Bills and 4 Nominations, including Bipartisan Children’s Online Privacy Legislation and OSTP Nomination

The Senate Commerce Committee approved two bipartisan bills to protect children online, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director nominee, Dr. Arati Prabhakar, the Transportation Security Administration Administrator nominee, David Pekoske, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce nominee, Susie Feliz, and Donald R. Cravins, the nominee to be Undersecretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development. Led by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), the Kids Online Safety Act would give parents greater control over their children’s online activity and require that platforms give kids the option to opt out of algorithmic recommendations and other potentially harmful features. The bill would also require that companies vet their products for risks to children and take steps to address them. The Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act, led by Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), would expand existing protections for children’s privacy by banning companies from collecting the data of users 13 to 16 years old without their consent and creating an “eraser” button allowing children to remove their data from digital services.