Lawmakers jump start talks on privacy bill

Lawmakers are working through the August recess to cobble together legislation on data privacy after missing a deadline they set to unveil a bill before the summer break. Advocates for a federal data privacy standard are feeling a time crunch as they fret over the limited number of days left in this session and the upcoming 2020 elections. Most importantly, CA's strict new privacy law is slated to take effect in Jan, raising the stakes for lawmakers who were hoping to pass a federal law before the stringent state-level rules go into place. Most eyes are on Senate Commerce Committee leaders Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA). 

Just before the recess, a series of leaks revealed that Sen Cantwell’s office was passing around a privacy framework that would allow consumers to sue companies for mishandling their data. That “private right of action” is a non-starter for industry and Republicans.  “We’re not going to have a private right of action,” Sen Wicker said. Despite the hiccup, he offered a new deadline for releasing a draft privacy bill: Labor Day.