• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, July 11, 2024

Senator Maria Cantwell on Thursday touted the controversial American Privacy Rights Act, a sweeping privacy proposal opposed by the ad industry.

“Privacy is not a partisan issue,” Cantwell (D-Washington), who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, said at a hearing on privacy and artificial intelligence. “I believe our most important private data should not be bought or sold without our approval.”

She went on to say that a bill she worked on with Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington) -- a clear reference to the American Privacy Rights Act -- would address some concerns regarding the collection and use of data.

For instance, she warned at the hearing that without a strong privacy law, companies that train artificial intelligence models might harness personal data in ways that could harm consumers.

“I'm very concerned that the ability to collect vast amounts of personal data about individuals, and create inferences about them quickly at very low cost, can be used in harmful ways, like charging consumers different prices for the same product,” she said in her opening statement.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), ranking member of the committee, expressed support for a national privacy law, but said he opposes the American Privacy Rights Act.

“Right now, this bill is not the solution,” Cruz said.

Among a host of restrictions, the most recent version of the American Privacy Rights Act would effectively outlaw a common form of online behavioral advertising by prohibiting businesses from targeting ads to consumers based on their activity across unaffiliated sites and apps.

Lawmakers on a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce committee advanced the bill earlier this year, but in June the full committee cancelled a scheduled markup of the proposed law.

The bill's curbs on online behavioral advertising “would eviscerate the modern advertising industry,” leaders of the Association of National Advertisers and American Association said in a letter sent to lawmakers last month.

Civil rights groups also opposed the most recent version of the bill, which lacked some of the anti-discrimination provisions that were in a discussion draft released in April. That initial draft had a section that would have prohibited businesses from collecting or harnessing personal data in ways that discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or disability. The most recent version omitted that provision.