The Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act, or COPRA, was introduced Monday by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce. (You can find the full text of the bill here.)
This isn’t the first time Congress has tried to pass a data privacy law. In fact, lawmakers have been trying—and failing—to do so for years. But this version of the bill has more bipartisan support than any previous attempt. In addition to Cantwell and Eshoo, the bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Brian Schatz (D-HI) in the Senate, and Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Greg Walden (R-OR), and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) in the House.
“Americans deserve to know that their most sensitive and personal information is protected online,” Cantwell said in a statement. “It’s time for Congress to act and empower consumers with the tools they need to hold companies accountable when their privacy is violated.”
The bill would give the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) new powers to enforce data privacy violations and impose hefty fines on companies that break the law. The FTC would also be able to issue regulations to implement the law.
The bill would create a new category of “sensitive data,” which would include information like financial data, health information, children’s information, geolocation data, racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, and biometric data. Companies would be required to get explicit consent from consumers before collecting, using, or sharing this sensitive data.
In addition, the bill would give consumers the right to know what data is being collected about them, the right to access that data, the right to correct inaccurate data, the right to delete data that has been collected, and the right to opt out of data collection altogether.
The bill would also create a new federal data privacy agency, the Office of Privacy Protection, to help enforce the law and protect consumers’ privacy rights.
“For too long, companies have been able to collect, use, and share Americans’ most sensitive personal information without their knowledge or consent,” Eshoo said in a statement. “COPRA will finally give Americans the strong, nationwide privacy protections they deserve and establish much needed guardrails for companies that control and profit from our data.”
The bill has the support of a number of consumer advocacy groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Democracy & Technology, and Public Citizen.
“COPRA is the first comprehensive federal privacy bill in the United States that would provide individuals with real control over their personal data,” the groups said in a joint statement. “If enacted, it would represent a major step forward for the privacy rights of all Americans.”
The bill faces an uphill battle in Congress, but it has a better chance of passing than any previous data privacy bill. Stay tuned.
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