Data Rights, Data Duties, & Data Risks: The American Data Privacy and Protection Act

While the ADPPA represents compromises between Democratic and Republican leadership of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, particularly around the thorny issues of state law preemption and private rights of action, there are other legislative and big tech industry players pushing their own agendas for comprehensive national data privacy and security frameworks. Also, while the ADPPA has made the largest step so far, there is a serious question whether the ADPPA's ultimate goals of giving all U.S. citizens the right to control the use of their personal data can be reckoned with the blow dealt to the right to privacy by the majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. See, "The Overturning of Roe v. Wade Undermines the Right to Privacy," June 27, 2022, Information Accountability Foundation.

Comprehensive Privacy Laws

The United States is very late to the party when it comes to nationally endorsed individuals' data rights protections. As of now, 100 plus countries have given their citizens fundamental protections over both governmental and commercial misuse and abuse of their personal information. It was not until three years after the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was enacted that California citizens gained a modicum of rights over their personal information with the enactment of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Then, came the tech-friendly versions of the CCPA in the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act and the Colorado Privacy Act that become effective Jan. 1, 2023 and July 1, 2023, respectively. We also have the fast-tracked Connecticut Data Privacy Act (effective July 1, 2023) and Utah Consumer Privacy Act (effective Dec. 31, 2023). This uneven patchwork of states' data protection laws, coupled with the complex matrix of U.S. federal sectoral privacy and security laws, are, in part, the reason the ADPPA has been called "pivotal" (see, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky | Representing the 9th District of Illinois (house.gov) Chairwoman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce June 14, 2022 Congressional Hearing entitled "Protecting America's Consumers: Bipartisan Legislation to Strengthen Data Privacy and Security"); a "holistic approach" to personal information data protections (see, Maureen Ohlhausen, Former Federal Trade Commission Chairperson June 14, 2022 Congressional Hearings before House Committee on Energy and Commerce); and protective of all U.S. citizens' civil right to be "free from digital redlining" (see, David Brody, Executive Director of the Digital Justice Initiative, June 14, 2022 Congressional Hearings before House Committee on Energy and Commerce).