Keypoint: As currently drafted, the ADPPA’s private right of action provides U.S. citizens with the opportunity to enforce their privacy rights but limits lawsuits to federal court and provides covered entities and service providers with mechanisms to mitigate the risk of such claims, including through the use of arbitration provisions and class action waivers.
As we previously reported, the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA) (H.R. 8152) is eligible for a full House vote after the House Committee on Commerce & Energy (House Committee) reported out an amended version on July 20, 2022. Prior to reporting out the ADPPA, the House Committee adopted an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (AINS) that made numerous changes to the bill, including modifications to the bill’s private right of action (PRA).
The contours of the ADPPA’s PRA are crucial.
Privacy advocates point to the inclusion of the PRA as one way in which the ADPPA is stronger than the California Consumer Privacy Act. However, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) – whose support is necessary to pass the bill because she chairs the relevant Senate committee – stated that the ADPPA contains “major enforcement holes” and does not have her support. Recently, Senator Cantwell stated that “she couldn’t support the bipartisan framework unless House lawmakers add tougher enforcement measures, including limits on forced arbitration and a broad right for individuals to sue companies that violate the law.” According to Cantwell, “The problem is it’s taking the House a long time to come to reality about what strong enforcement looks like.” “If you’re charitable, you call it ignorance. If you think that it’s purposeful, it literally won’t pass the House because they just won’t meet the test of what a strong federal bill looks like.” Meanwhile, business advocates such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are adamantly opposed to any bill “that creates a blanket private right of action.”
Given how important this issue is to passing a federal privacy bill, the below article contains a detailed analysis of the ADPPA’s current PRA as the House Committee passed it on July 20. The article then outlines the PRA contained in Senator Cantwell’s 2019 bill, the Consumer Online Privacy Right Act for comparison purposes.
If you are interested in learning more about the ADPPA, we are hosting a webinar on it on August 18, 2022. Click here for more information and to register. We also would like to thank the Future of Privacy Forum and the IAPP’s Cobun Zweifel-Keegan whose redline of the latest version of the ADPPA was instrumental in the drafting of this article.
Continue Reading Analyzing the American Data Privacy and Protection Act’s Private Right of Action
