Americans for Tax Reform and 23 other organizations sent a letter to Chairmen Brett Guthrie and Gus Bilirakis of the House Energy and Commerce Committee urging them to to advance the SECURE Data Act (H.R. 8413). This legislation would establish a national data privacy and security framework to replace the growing patchwork of conflicting state laws.

The letter commends the SECURE Data Act as the product of more than 15 months of careful deliberation by the Committee’s Privacy Working Group. It describes the bill as balancing the practical realities of the modern economy with clear, enforceable protections for Americans’ personal data. It urges the Energy and Commerce Committee to advance this legislation without delay.

The letter highlights how Congress’s failure to pass a federal standard has led states to pass their own data privacy laws governing websites, ISPs, and online data brokers. If all 50 states move forward with their own privacy laws, it could cost the American economy over $1 trillion in the next decade, with $200 billion of that burden falling on small businesses. The SECURE Data Act aligns with bipartisan state laws already protecting millions of Americans while solving the patchwork problem.

The key points in the letter include detailed support for the bill’s main provisions:

  • The right for consumers to access, correct, or delete their own data.
  • The requirement that businesses obtain consent before processing sensitive information pertaining to them.
  • Codified parental consent for minors.
  • In lieu of federal regulation, the private sector is invited to develop best practices that the Department of Commerce may ratify into a voluntary federal Code of Conduct.
  • Strong preemption, with no private right of action and no open-ended rulemaking authority for federal agencies or additional state regulations.

The letter notes that the SECURE Data Act delivers real privacy protections while avoiding the pitfalls that would enrich trial lawyers or empower bureaucrats.

A federal data privacy standard is badly needed. Congress’s failure to pass one has led states to pass their own data privacy laws governing websites, ISPs, and online data brokers. If all 50 states move forward with their own privacy laws, it could cost the American economy over $1 trillion in the next decade, with $200 billion of that burden falling on small businesses.

It warns that entrenched bureaucracies like the California Privacy Protection Agency are already lining up in opposition to the bill because they prefer a confusing patchwork of state laws that enrich trial lawyers and empower bureaucrats at the expense of consumers. The letter calls on Congress to ignore these entities and hold the line on strong preemption, no private right of action, and no open-ended regulation.

These are real data privacy protections, and the SECURE Data Act provides them without enriching trial lawyers through a private right of action, empowering any federal agencies to pursue open-ended rulemakings, or inviting states to complicate the system with inconsistent regulations.

It applauds the bill’s thoughtful approach, stressing that by avoiding the mistakes of previous federal privacy attempts, the SECURE Data Act stands a better chance of passage and will result in better policy for American consumers.

Read the full letter here.