Senate Commerce Chair Wicker Doesn’t See Right of Action as Deal Breaker
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker doesn’t think Democrats will insist on including a private right of action in bipartisan privacy legislation, he told reporters last week. The Mississippi Republican noted California’s privacy law limits private right of action. “I don’t think Democrats will insist on that in a final bill,” he said. “I don’t expect this Congress to move to the left of the California initiative.”
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Ranking member Maria Cantwell, Wash., and three other high-ranking Democrats included the provision, which would allow individuals to sue privacy violators, in their privacy principles (see 1911190058). Cantwell offered nothing when asked about ongoing privacy talks with Republicans. “It has been so busy, the only thing I’ve heard is what you guys have written,” she told reporters.
The committee announced Monday it will hold a data privacy hearing at 10 a.m. Dec. 4. Witnesses are Microsoft Corporate Vice President Julie Brill, 21st Century Privacy Coalition co-Chair Maureen Ohlhausen, Georgetown Law Center on Privacy & Technology Executive Director Laura Moy, Walmart Senior Vice President Nuala O’Connor and Center for Democracy and Technology Privacy and Data Director Michelle Richardson. Brill, a Democrat, and Ohlhausen, a Republican, are former FTC commissioners.
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Senate Banking Committee ranking member Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, recently confirmed to us that Democrats are discussing their own legislation. But Brown told us last week the group's continuing to talk with Republicans: “People should see what we’re interested in and see where this goes.” The GOP knows where Democrats stand, but “we don’t know enough about what they want to do,” he said.
Asked whether Republicans might issue something in response to the Democrats’ privacy principles, Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., said the hope is a bipartisan product. “We’ve put in a lot of work that’s going back to last year, legislation that we’ve had drafted, and we’ve been refining it ever since, so our folks have been working with the Democrats,” he told reporters. “I hope we still get a product that is bipartisan, so the discussions between Cantwell and Wicker continue, and we’ve been involved in those.”
If there’s no bipartisan agreement by the Dec. 4 hearing, “it’s important that both parties clarify their positions to see exactly how close or far we are from each other,” Schatz told reporters. “Sometimes this is a precursor to a deal, and sometimes a precursor to it all falling apart, and I guess we’re about to find out.”
House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and House Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., told us last week they hadn’t seen the principles from Senate Democrats. “We’re going to look at them,” Schakowsky said. “They’re in a different position. We’re going for a bipartisan bill, so we’ll see. It’s good they’re stepping out with priorities.” Her talks with subcommittee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., are “going pretty well,” she said, noting she expects they will release at least a draft bill by year's end.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., hope sometime next year to introduce a bill that would “child-proof” certain social media apps (see 1910210067), Graham told reporters. Staffs are drafting legislation, he said. It envisions an independent body setting business practices for the tech industry to protect children from exploitation, he said. Asked about President Donald Trump’s recent dinner with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Graham hopes the president learned much. Graham, who met with Zuckerberg in California recently, said, “I learned a lot, and I hope the president did, too.”
Republicans would be well-served to offer a marker on privacy, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told us. She seeks support for her Balancing the Rights of Web Surfers Equally and Responsibly (Browser) Act (S-1116). “Light-touch regulation that puts the consumer in charge of their information is a real good step,” she said.
Privacy legislation should apply to multiple jurisdictions and committees, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, told us: “We have to have a very broad base of privacy protections for individuals and responsibilities on data collectors and marketers.”