March Data Wrap: A Snapshot Of Key Regulatory Developments

Whilst several state-level data privacy rights continue to come into effect in 2024, given that this is an election year in the US, it seemed unlikely that federal privacy legislation would be a priority for Congress when we put together our 2024 Data Predictions at the start of the year. That said, in a last-minute and surprise entry to this edition of our Data Wrap, on 7 April 2024, US House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chair, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and Senator Maria Cantwell, chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, released a discussion draft of a new piece of legislation, the "American Privacy Rights Act" ("APRA") – a draft bipartisan, bicameral federal privacy bill (press release is available here). This follows talks around its predecessor, the Data Privacy and Protection Act, having stalled since early 2023.