Staff Reports
The American Data Privacy and Protection Act, which purports to protect people's personal information online, appears to have funded federal data collection efforts.
According to The Daily Wire, the measure would implement strategies known as data minimization with regard to the collection of user information, with the goal of ensuring that only reasonably required and appropriate details are obtained.
This would comprise information regarding the authentication of users, the prevention of fraud, and the execution of transactions. At the conclusion of the month of July, the bill received approval from the politically diverse Energy and Commerce Committee of the House.
The legislators who drafted the bill asserted that it puts people back in control of their online data. Despite this assertion, the current version of the bill permits government agencies, as well as individuals or organizations working on their behalf, to continue to "collect, process, or transfer" relevant data.
The progressive nonprofit organization Consumer Watchdog shared a letter that was sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California. In the letter, Consumer Watchdog pointed out that the forthcoming bill is relatively weak than the California Consumer Privacy Act and that it would supersede existing law. The letter was provided to The Daily Wire.
According to the letter that was sent out by the organization, its explanation was that a key gap in the ADPPA allows corporations who partner with government bodies for data collecting to bypass its protections. In contrast, according to the law of the state of California, firms that have contracts with the government are considered covered businesses and are required to comply with the law.
The letter proceeded by stating that sensitive personal information citizens seek to conceal from companies and the government under the CCPA would be exposed under the ADPPA. This means that governments will have unrestricted access to the huge data collection carried out by digital companies such as Google.
The letter went on to explain that purchasing data makes it simple for the government to get around constitutional protections that would require them to obtain consent through warrants. Additionally, the statement stated that tracking purchasing data is extremely tough.
The American Data Privacy and Protection Act does not prohibit targeted advertisements online; however, it does prohibit advertisements that are directed toward children or that are based on "sensitive covered data," such as information about a person's health or their precise location.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on Headline USA.
