Draft of U.S. Data Protection Act lands in Senate for discussion: high fines and jail time are a possibility

On November 1, 2018, Senator Ron Wyden introduced for discussion the draft of a new Consumer Data Protection Act (Bill SIL18B29).

The Bill aims at allowing consumers “to control the sale and sharing of their data, gives the FTC the authority to be an effective cop on the beat, and will spur a new market for privacy-protecting services.”

The Bill would strengthen the FTC’s role by vesting it with the power to:

1. establish minimum privacy and cybersecurity standards;
2. issue steep fines (up to 4% of annual revenue), on the first offense for companies and 10-20 year criminal penalties for senior executives.

The Bill creates a national Do Not Track system to stop third-party companies from tracking consumers on the web. It also gives consumers a way to review what personal information a company has about them, learn how and with whom it has been shared, and to challenge inaccuracies in the data.

The Bill foresees the hiring of more staff to police the largely unregulated market for private data.

The full text of Bill SIL 18B29 is available at https://www.wyden.senate.gov…