Data privacy legislation is moving forward in Congress that favors big tech, broadband providers and banks over consumers and Main Street businesses. The American Data Privacy Protection Act (ADPPA), sponsored by Representatives Frank Pallone, Jr., D-N.J., and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. includes several provisions that could make it harder for retailers to provide customers with exceptional service, would expose Main Street businesses to lawsuits, and would leave out key privacy protections for consumers who expect their data to be protected by all businesses that handle it.
The ADPPA is well-intentioned but does not fully meet the principles retailers have long supported for comprehensively protecting the data privacy of Americans. Here are three critical ways the ADPPA should be revised before passage:
- Establish a strong, uniform national privacy framework that preempts a patchwork of state privacy laws and regulations.
- Remove a private right of action that empowers trial lawyers to sue or threaten lawsuits against Main Street businesses on a complex federal law where mistake-free compliance is highly unlikely.
- Eliminate unfair exemptions from the same requirements for big tech companies, broadband Internet providers, and banks.
Data drives the shopping experience and allows retailers to offer customers the products, services, value, and convenience they demand. Tell Congress to support a preemptive federal privacy bill that requires all businesses to use customer data responsibly.