Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee Republican Leader Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) delivered remarks at today’s subcommittee markup of eight bills, including the bipartisan, bicameral American Data Privacy and Protection Act which will protect kids and give Americans more control over their personal online data.
Excerpts and highlights from his opening remarks:
REESE’S LAW
“I am looking forward to a productive conversation for how we can work in a bipartisan manner to continue to refine these bills and move them forward.
“This is a great subcommittee, one with the important role of protecting consumers. That’s why I was proud to cosponsor H.R. 5313, Reese’s Law, led by Representative Kelly, which will require the CPSC to develop product safety standards with respect to batteries that pose an ingestion hazard.
“I want to thank Representative Kelly and Trista Hamsmith, for their tireless advocacy to continue fighting for this effort.”
INFORMING CONSUMERS ABOUT SMART DEVICES ACT
“While we owe it to our constituents to be examining whether there are dangerous products in the marketplace, and doing so without unduly burdening legitimate businesses that follow the law, we are also tasked with ensuring American’s have more transparency over business practices, especially when it comes to business practices involving their data. That’s why I’m thankful for Representatives Curtis and Moulton spearheading H.R. 4081, the Informing Consumers About Smart Devices Act. This bill will require companies that manufacture devices with cameras and microphones, not already prominently made aware to consumers, to disclose such features to consumers.”
RANSOMWARE ACT
“I am also eager to advance my bill H.R. 4551, the Reporting Attacks from Nations Selected for Oversight and Monitoring Web Attacks and Ransomware from Enemies Act otherwise known as the ‘RANSOMWARE Act.’ This legislation amends the U.S. SAFE WEB Act, a tool the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) uses to protect consumers with an international dimension, including by increasing cooperation with foreign law enforcement, and will require the FTC to report on cross-border complaints they receive involving ransomware or other cyber-security-related incidents committed by our adversaries: China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.
“This legislation is very timely, as just a few weeks ago the U.S. learned that Chinese government hackers had breached major telecommunications companies and network service providers to steal credentials and harvest data. What the CCP will do with this information, no one knows, but if their intent is to ransom off the information or use it to extort Americans, this bill will help us better understand these attacks and learn how to better combat them. So I’m hopeful my colleagues will work with me to move this bill across the finish line.”
AMERICAN DATA PRIVACY AND PROTECTION ACT
“Certainly not to our surprise, this is not the only avenue the CCP travels to get their hands on Americans’ information. Last week, we learned TikTok has been lying to Congress over the information they share with the Chinese Communist Party, specifically, the data belonging to Americans. This is completely unacceptable.
“TikTok’s blatant lies are even more proof for why the American people and businesses deserve clear privacy and data security rules. We need to give consistent ‘rules of the road’ that give the American people more control over their own data, and provide businesses with clear obligations that don’t change based on the location of their store. We must also be particularly clear when it comes to protecting the data security and privacy of our children and teens.
“That’s why I’m glad to see our bipartisan privacy bill, H.R. 8152, the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, included on the docket today. We’ve taken in a lot of feedback from stakeholders and have made significant progress to better clarify and improve the bill since our draft was initially released – I’m very thankful for all the constructive comments we’ve received up to this point. And I want to be clear: this is certainly not the last opportunity to work with us and continue to deliberate on tweaking this bill further.
“There is still more work to be done, but we must take this important step forward, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and with our friends in the Senate to get this done. This is the best shot we’ve had in years to give the American people and businesses something they desperately need.”
Source: https://republicans-energycommerce.house.gov/news/press-release/consumer-protection-and-commerce-republican-leader-bilirakis-on-protecting-peoples-privacy-online/
