Silicon Valley’s attempt to defang California’s strong data privacy law has ground to a halt in the US Senate.
California’s data privacy law, scheduled to go into effect at the end of 2019, has several provisions unpalatable to big technology companies like Facebook and Google. A watered-down federal data privacy bill could override some of the stronger elements of the California law.
Reporter Kiran Stacey points out that if no federal law is passed, the California law will become the de facto national standard in this article published in the Financial Times:
The technology industry is keen for a bill to be passed before the end of the year, when a separate data privacy act comes into force in California. Companies have warned that it will be difficult to comply with some of the stronger elements of the California act, and had been hoping Congress would pass a bill to override it before it becomes law on January 1.
But following months of talks among members of the Senate Commerce Committee, the draft bill is still yet to be published. Those close to the process had hoped to release it several months ago, but say the negotiations between Republicans and Democrats have now all but stalled.
One Democrat adviser said: “If the industry simply wants a bill that is going to water down California, they haven’t got a hope. There is no way the Democrats will agree to anything like that.” The person added: “Talks are at a standstill now. I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t manage to come up with a draft at all.”
A national data privacy bill would be a landmark step in technology regulation in the US, forcing companies for the first time to allow customers to access their data and potentially to stop them collecting or selling it on.[…]
…according to those briefed on the talks, they have hit an impasse in particular over the issue of whether individual citizens should have the right to sue companies for data breaches. The so-called private right of action is enshrined in the California act, but companies and some Republicans are keen to make sure it is not replicated in a national bill.
