The American Privacy Rights Act: Could This Be The One?

Introduction

The chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and the chair of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), released a discussion draft of the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) on April 7, 2024. This announcement of a bipartisan, bicameral bill for a federal comprehensive consumer privacy law was a significant—and unexpected—development in the wake of the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA), which never made it to a House floor vote despite bipartisan, bicameral support and considerable attention.

Below is a summary of the APRA's key provisions, which reflect many principles seen in the ADPPA, the wave of omnibus state consumer privacy laws, and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) activity.