House Dems Push Kids Privacy Measure Over Bipartisan Senate Bill

Democrats are still reviewing the Kids Online Safety Act from Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and ranking member Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Terry said Monday during the State of the Net Conference. A bipartisan proposal like that will get a lot of attention, and hopefully it can be a “springboard" to a comprehensive bill, he said. The committee is reviewing “very closely,” but language from Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., should be the baseline, he said (see 2202180068).

Blackburn doesn’t see her bill with Blumenthal as a substitute for comprehensive legislation, said Jamie Susskind, Blackburn’s tech policy adviser. The Tennessee Republican has said publicly that multiple privacy bills can move forward, but children’s privacy is a top priority, said Susskind.

Some elements of the Senate bill, like its general duty of care for platforms, might be difficult to enforce, said Kelley Drye’s Jessica Rich, a former FTC Consumer Protection Bureau director: “There needs to be a little more fleshing out what that means."

Terry called for a ban on cross-app tracking and said an opt-in consent model would be the “most impactful” model on privacy. The House Commerce Committee is doing oversight on third-party companies that collect information on children’s fintech activity: “We’re evaluating this space right now.” Terry noted children having debit cards is no longer just an upper-class thing. Tech companies have a dossier that combines financial and social information in a way that’s unlike anything ever seen, said Iggy Ventures CEO Rick Lane.

The U.S. and EU are continuing to negotiate an "enhanced Privacy Shield” (PS) that would address concerns raised by the European Court of Justice, said Commerce Department Director-Privacy Shield Alex Greenstein on a separate panel (see 2110190032). “What we’re negotiating is only about national security issues and government access to data,” Greenstein said, noting it won’t include commercial elements. The “renewed Russian war in Ukraine” has given “much more credibility” to the perspective that national security should be the “No. 1 priority,” said Center for European Policy Analysis President-CEO Alina Polyakova.

The European court “put a giant question mark next to standard contractual clauses,” said Sean Heather, Chamber of Commerce senior vice president-international regulatory affairs and antitrust. The “bulk of the data flow” between the U.S. and EU consists of standard contractual clauses, Heather said, and “the pressure is really on” to determine whether these clauses are a “valid tool to transfer data” between the U.S. and EU.

PS is “a concrete concern,” but there’s a “whole other dimension of EU-U.S. issues in the technology space,” said Jens-Henrik Jeppesen, Workday director-public policy, Europe, Middle East and Africa: “This ought to focus the minds in terms of forging really cooperative cooperation.” Greenstein said he’s “optimistic” about continued cooperation and understanding between the U.S. and EU.

The White House has been in touch with tech companies in the past few days about how they can keep services available to Russians, despite attempts by the Kremlin to censor information online, said Peter Harrell, the White House senior director-international economics and competitiveness, on a separate panel. Asked what guidance the administration is giving, he said the White House welcomes open platforms being available for ordinary citizens. He noted many platforms are being throttled and degraded by Russian ISPs. The White House encourages companies to “resist censorship,” he said: The free flow of information is “incredibly important” in that region right now.

Congress should ban targeted ads for children, create an online “data eraser” and amend the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act to stop companies from turning a “blind eye” to children on their platforms, said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who's pushing legislation with Castor. He wants an FTC privacy division dedicated to children’s issues. Congress should be “laser-focused” on protecting children and teens, so they’re not “haunted” by what they do online, he said.

When regulating content moderation, Congress should remember that not every website follows the same business model, said Wikimedia Vice President-Global Policy Rebecca MacKinnon. She noted the community-driven moderation practices of Wikipedia, saying nearly 600 editors are actively watching the page on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s a community dedicated to compiling factual information for the public, she said. Congress needs to protect the rights of communities to set rules and enforce them without being prosecuted or sued into oblivion, she said: It’s not about “who we need to punish” but how to build an open and accessible internet.