- Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee praised the passage of legislation that protects sensitive data of Americans from foreign adversaries.
- The bill authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to seek civil penalties of not less than $50,000 for each violation.
- It passed the House by a vote of 414-0.
WASHINGTON – Bipartisan leaders of the House committees that investigate interstate and foreign commerce praised the passage of a bill Wednesday aimed at keeping Americans' personal data out of the hands of foreign adversaries.
“Today's overwhelming vote means that adversaries can purchase sensitive personally identifiable information from data brokers to protect the U.S. nation,” said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Rep. Frank Pallone. “This sends a clear message that we will not tolerate violations of national security and personal privacy.” DN.J. said in a joint statement.
Rogers and Pallone, the respective chairs and ranking members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced legislation in March that would ban data brokers from selling sensitive data to certain countries. It passed unanimously by a vote of 414-0.
The strong results “will help build momentum to sign this important bipartisan bill and more comprehensive privacy legislation into law this Congress,” the lawmakers said.
The bill prohibits organizations that profit from selling personal data, known as data brokers, from providing access to that data to foreign adversaries or entities controlled by adversaries.
It also authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to seek civil penalties of not less than $50,000 for each violation.
The bill follows previous efforts by the Biden administration to strengthen the Fair Credit Reporting Act to make data brokers who sell sensitive information more accountable. The 1970 Act ensures the fairness of data collected by consumer reporting agencies and promotes the privacy of information.
Proposed updates to the FCRA are included in the September 2023 Summary of Proposals Under Consideration.
Rogers and Pallone said the bill's passage builds on last week's successful effort to pass another bill requiring China-based ByteDance to exit TikTok or leave the U.S. He said it would risk a nationwide ban.