Senator Kirsten Gillibrand accepts big technology through data protection law

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is rolling out a revised version of her data protection law, which will create a new government agency responsible for overseeing and enforcing federal privacy laws—what we have now and whatever laws we have. May get in the future.

Gillibrand said in a statement: “Large technology companies are free to sell personal data to the highest bidder without worrying about the actual consequences. This poses a serious threat to modern privacy and civil rights.” “Data privacy crisis. The daily lives of Americans are shrouded, and we need to hold these bad actors accountable.”

The bill is based on her 2020 edition It seems to reflect the agenda of the Biden administration and the fact that the Democrats now control both houses of Congress, so it is more likely to implement the agenda. It also includes new chapters dealing with antitrust and civil rights.

The Data Protection Act itself is not a privacy bill. Instead, it established a data protection agency whose job is to supervise and enforce federal data privacy laws. The bill also clarifies some prohibited data collection and use practices, including discriminatory or deceptive practices, and prohibits the use of de-identified data to re-identify users.

In this new version, the agency will also review the privacy impact of any merger, including the transmission of data from at least 50,000 users—think Facebook and Instagram, as well as data from data brokers like Oracle’s acquisition of BlueKai. The review will then be sent to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice to determine whether to allow the merger to pass.

The Data Protection Agency will also have its own civil rights office to ensure that data is not collected or used in a way that discriminates against protected groups. Facebook Allow users Placing housing ads that exclude certain races and ethnicities is an example, but there are also countless method You don’t even know that the data you provide may be used against you-and there is no agency responsible for monitoring these violations.

Currently, enforcement of federal privacy laws is usually the responsibility of the FTC and state attorneys general. The bill will exclude this from the FTC’s purview, and there are disagreements on whether this is a good idea. Some people believe that power should remain in an established institution that can be expanded to better accept it.Federal Trade Commission Recently said It needs more people and new units to properly solve the privacy problem. The agency currently has about 1,100 full-time employees, of which only about 40 are dedicated to privacy matters. Washington Rep. Suzan DelBene’s privacy bill, Launched in March, Which will provide more funds and staff to the FTC, she told Recode that she believes this is a better way to monitor privacy than the new agency.

Cameron Kerry, a researcher at the Technology Innovation Center of the Brookings Institution, told Recode in March last year: “The FTC has no problems and cannot be corrected with stronger legal authority and more resources.” “I think it has experience. You. It’s not just about establishing a new organization. I think it’s good for an organization that also has competitive authority to do this.”

But others pointed out that many countries have data protection agencies and have specialized agencies need Consider the large companies and ecosystems it will oversee-data collection is in many ways the backbone of the Internet and mobile applications.Many people believe that the Federal Trade Commission has Insufficient data privacy And it’s often referred to as “toothless” because it imposes fines on large technology companies, which basically slapped the wrist—usually the first offender. Not even worth the fine. Even if it is huge Fined $5 billion The Federal Trade Commission’s transfer of FTC to Facebook for privacy violations does not seem to weaken the company’s bottom line. This is only because Facebook violated the 2012 settlement agreement, which does not require it to pay a fine at all.

Gillibrand is not the only lawmaker who wants such an institution: California Rep. Anna Esho and Zoe Lovegren’s Online privacy law Calling for the establishment of a digital privacy agency, the bill may also appear again in this Congress. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown’s draft data accountability and transparency bill includes provisions to establish an independent agency, and his office told Recode that he intends to introduce his bill in the current Congress. He is the co-sponsor of the Gillibrand Act.At the same time, California will Soon there will be its own privacy protection agency.

It is not yet known that data privacy will fall into the FTC file. Lina Khan is now the chairman of the organizationKhan has gained fame as a major technology critic and antitrust expert. Her appointment reflects the Biden administration’s desire to prioritize these antitrust issues, as do the legislators on both sides. Both houses Congress.Khan is a co-author of House Democrats Massive antitrust reportsThis is due to the anti-competitive practices that Big Tech believes has eroded user privacy. Data privacy may be part of her agenda, but it may not be the focus.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the bill is not the bill itself, but what the institutions it creates can do.Although the United States does have data privacy laws, almost everyone—including the company Legal goals-Agreeing with existing regulations is not enough, nor does it reflect the current Internet-centric lifestyle of many people. They just don’t agree on how to solve this problem, so federal privacy laws have always gone nowhere. This is a problem that the bill cannot solve.