A group of House Republicans has established a data privacy working group that aims to develop a comprehensive national data privacy standard, the House Energy and Commerce Committee said on Feb. 12.
Created by committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Kan., and John Joyce, R-Md., who is vice chairman of the committee, the working group will be comprised of nine lawmakers and led by Rep. Joyce.
“We strongly believe that a national data privacy standard is necessary to protect Americans’ rights online and maintain our country’s global leadership in digital technologies, including artificial intelligence,” said Reps. Guthrie and Joyce in a joint statement. “That’s why we are creating this working group, to bring members and stakeholders together to explore a framework for legislation that can get across the finish line.”
Currently, there is no comprehensive Federal data privacy law, and 20 states have their own individual data privacy laws.
Some of the more recent attempts at setting Federal standards included the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, which was introduced in 2022. Despite having strong bipartisan support, the legislation failed to gain enough support, leading to the introduction of the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) of 2024.
The APRA received significant pushback from business and technology groups over a lack of provisions that would prevent states from placing additional restrictions on top of the Federal policy.
“The need for comprehensive data privacy is greater than ever, and we are hopeful that we can start building a strong coalition to address this important issue,” Reps. Guthrie and Joyce said.
Members of the working group include Reps., Morgan Griffith, R-Va., Troy Balderson, R-Ohio, Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., Russell Fry, R-S.C., Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., Tom Kean, R-N.J., Craig Goldman, R-Texas, and Julie Fedorchak, R-N.D.
The working group said it is also seeking input from a “broad range of stakeholders” that would be interested in engaging with the group.
