Senate Commerce Privacy Group in Flux After Cantwell Concerns

Cantwell remains committed to working toward bipartisan consensus on privacy legislation, but her office hasn’t scheduled any further talks with group members, the aide said. Cantwell never joined or quit any formal privacy group, the aide added.

But Wicker told reporters all six members remain committed to reaching agreement, and marking up legislation before the August recess is “absolutely within the realm of possibility. … I for one am very optimistic about that August goal. I think we're all committed to getting a product.”

The mechanism for achieving consensus is evolving, Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Thursday. “The pause button has been pushed temporarily, but hopefully we'll get back on track. There's still a lot of bipartisan interest in doing a bill.” He suggested Republicans were caught off guard by the apparent change in direction. Still, the foundation for many of the bill’s major issues has been laid, and good conversations continue between parties, Thune added. “I was hoping we'd have something to mark up before the August break. It's [Wicker's] call as the chairman to set the schedule. But it'll depend probably upon whether there's progress” on negotiations.

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, told reporters all six members remain in the group, while trying to calm speculation that talks are breaking down: “I don’t think anybody should be too alarmed. This was always going to be a hard process, and as we build a coalition, there will be challenges. We’re still in constructive conversations among members, and I don’t underestimate the challenge in front of us, but I am not overly worried.” Asked for a takeaway about reports that a Wednesday meeting between Wicker and Cantwell was canceled, Schatz said: “Politics is hard, but we’ll get there.” As ranking member, Cantwell is the party’s lead negotiator, he added.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., also was asked if the six members remain in the group. The makeup of any group is less important than delivering Americans the privacy they deserve, he said: “We’ll see where the group goes, but the main point is we need a privacy protection bill. I am committed to fight as long and hard as necessary to ensure that we make our best effort, and we’ve already made a lot of progress.” He noted he won’t compromise on basic principles. “Whatever the outcome of different groups or task forces, my goal is the most effective, comprehensive privacy legislation possible,” he said, calling Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., a great negotiating partner. “I’ve spent three decades fighting for privacy. I’m not going to give up now.”

Federal privacy legislation should grant the FTC civil penalty authority, targeted rulemaking authority and jurisdiction over nonprofits and common carriers, Chairman Joe Simons said at the agency’s PrivacyCon event Thursday. He has repeatedly called for a bill to include those three new elements. The agency continues to enforce vigorously with its existing tools, he said. He cited a record fine under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act against TikTok (see 1902270059). He also pointed to non-enforcement tools like Section 6(b) of the FTC Act (see 1904120062), which the agency is using to request information from broadband providers and others to “examine how broadband companies collect, retain, use and disclose information about consumers.”

The most important thing is to add affirmative privacy right obligations to Section 5 of the FTC Act, Consumer Reports Privacy and Technology Policy Director Justin Brookman told us. He also suggested the agency should at least double its privacy enforcement staff. There are signals of bipartisan consensus that the agency needs greater resources, he said.