The Digital Era American Data Privacy and Protection Act ( H.R.8152)

What is in the American Data Privacy and Protection Act and why was it proposed? It appears we are falling in line with many other nations that have begun the process of protecting consumer and citizen data. That becomes increasingly important as other nations and people use this information (Sometimes for good purposes and sometimes not so much.). There are hackers and criminals as well as scammers and profiteers. So this bill seeks to protect data not only for consumers but also for sensitive government information. It seeks to make market changes that limits certain undesirable behaviors.

A few things from the bill (No endorsement or lack of endorsement. Understanding is key)....

-The bill appears to look at how are handling, or mishandling, information. 

"This bill establishes requirements for how companies, including nonprofits and common carriers, handle personal data, which includes information that identifies or is reasonably linkable to an individual." (H.R.8152 para 1)

-The bill hopes to improve protections for consumers and allow consumers more control over what data is out there.

"The bill establishes consumer data protections, including the right to access, correct, and delete personal data." (H.R.8152 para 3)

-It also seeks to help people opt out of targeted advertising. 

"Prior to engaging in targeted advertising, the bill requires companies to provide individuals with a means to opt out of such advertising. (H.R.8152 para 3)

-Because of concerns of misuse there are additional protections for children (That makes sense to me.).

"The bill also provides additional protections with respect to personal data of individuals under the age of 17. It further prohibits companies from using personal data to discriminate based on specified protected characteristics" (H.R.8152 para 3) (Same old problems some are trying to carry forward when we really should be universalizing. I'm not debating specifics here but just the concept that being online doesn't change the responsibilities one has to society and our core values. Which policy, how, when, case law, etc. is a much longer process of definition.)

Much of theft is often form databases and other large data pools that are ripe for exploiting and combining. Companies love to gather the information from consumers in witting ways but once it becomes stale data it is often left out in cyberspace somewhere or sold for cheap (Do you really wonder where all those spamm calls come from? Someone probably collected, organized, and sold your and your family's data without you even knowing it.) Basically, low value data will be under protected. That may not have value for the company anymore but it does have value for foreign entities. 

"Additionally, companies must implement security practices to protect and secure personal data against unauthorized access, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) may issue regulations for complying with this requirement." (H.R.8152 para 4)

People are people and many are self interested (Nah! No way!). If you don't have an enforcement arm good luck trying to actually implement the program. Someday, companies will find greater value in protecting the data and their brand image but for now only a few companies got hit hard in the market for data theft and there reputations recovered sometime thereafter (However, the rest of us know they were negligent with the information and haphazard with how it was stored and protected. The uniformed consumer might not know anything. I still shop there sometimes because they helped us understand the importance of managing data responsibly and they were like any other company. The difference was it was huge and someone reported it. 🛒). I think companies will someday have all types of legal challenges when they don't protect or destroy data correctly.

"The bill provides for enforcement of these requirements by the FTC and state attorneys general. Beginning four years after the bill's enactment, individuals may, subject to certain notification requirements, bring civil actions for violations of the bill." (H.R.8152 para 5)

Blah, blah, blah......😴💤....blah, blah.......legal stuff....blah, blah.....orators......blah blah......zzzz you can sort of just glance at what is in the next sentence and keep going.

"Finally, the bill preempts state laws that are covered by the provisions of the bill except for certain categories of state laws and specified laws in Illinois and California."H.R.8152 para 6

People steal and misuse data all the time. When the Internet was forming it was like the Wild West and data was its six shooter pistol. I came from one of the first batches of computer nerds (Commodore 64 and Atari) when home computers in my area were still rare. In todays world, we would be considered the grandfathers and grandmothers of the now emerging Digital Era (Programming was simple back then. A box or circle bouncing around. I mean, its not like its the Matrix or anything; at least not yet. {Ok sorry...I digress.... 🤣 I'm just joking, its sort of funny. It was meant to be light hearted.})

However, we are pretty much connected everywhere and all the time in today's world. We should expect little privacy and we should expect to have intrusive type advertisement that often know more about you than you might know about yourself (No joke!). (See Psychographics and example Delta County Psychographics. I live a Digital Nomads life so I'm a little more aware than the average of how the basics function. Because we are moving into a new era there will also be some locations like Escanaba that could someday become digital nomad lands that attract the creative class through lifestyle interest.)

The early Internet had no rules! It was the 'Galactic Network' of the Wild West with no way of really monitoring the system. It was designed to be sort of dispersed. Fast forward a few decades and the world is full of data and it streams constantly like airstreams. People are grabbing, playing with it, changing it, collecting it, adjusting it, misusing it, reporting on it, studying it, etc. Most don't have a clue how much data is out there! (So much that there is a kind of global collective conscious.)

American Data Privacy and Protection Act ( H.R.8152) is a truly Digital Era legislation designed around the problems of managing chronically streaming data. The infrastructure updates are necessary to create the networks that lead to information transference but this legislation is designed to protect data and slow foreign ability to get that data. Thus, one is the hard structure and the other is becoming the operational rules. Whether its this legislation or another, there will be a need to protect data. The devil is now in the details as our national leaders debate each of its aspects, drawbacks, and potentials. 

H.R.8152 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): American Data Privacy and Protection Act. (2022, December 30). https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/8152

Bateman, J. (Oct. 12, 2022). Biden Is Now All-In on Taking Out China. Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/10/12/biden-china-semiconductor-chips-exports-decouple/

Abel, M. (Oct. 4th, 2021). U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai speaks at Center for Strategic and International Studies. Academic Capital. http://www.academic-capital.net/2021/10/us-trade-representative-katherine-tai.html

White House (November 14th. 2022) Readout of President Joe Biden’s Meeting with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China. 

 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/11/14/readout-of-president-joe-bidens-meeting-with-president-xi-jinping-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china/

 

Ezrati, M. (Dec. 5th, 2022). Biden Escalates The Economic War With China. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/miltonezrati/2022/12/25/biden-escalates-the-economic-war-with-china/?sh=77b3e6b512f3