WASHINGTON—The Heritage Foundation’s Tech Policy Center has expressed support for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and Chairwoman Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) for their work on the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA), which aims to enhance consumer data protections and child safety.
Kara Frederick, director of the Tech Policy Center, issued a statement emphasizing the necessity of regulating major tech platforms like Google and Meta. “The unrestricted collection and exploitation of personal data by major tech platforms such as Google and Meta is at the root of nearly every challenge we face as conservatives. This pervasive surveillance—enabled by the extensive data harvesting capabilities of Big Tech—has given rise to a host of threats that undermine our fundamental rights and values. It’s time to put Big Tech on notice and let them know that the gravy train, built on the backs of Americans and our children, is over.”
The APRA incorporates several objectives from The Heritage Foundation’s Tech Policy Center:
- Establishing a federal data protection framework with appropriate standards, transparency, and oversight for how entities collect, store, and share U.S. user data.
- Shielding American children from targeted advertising by prohibiting such practices directed at minors.
- Addressing third-party data collection mechanisms involving U.S. users.
- Circumscribing current commercial microtargeting practices.
- Enshrining certain U.S. user data as sensitive.
The bill seeks to reduce incentives for abusing American consumers while offering baseline privacy protections for citizens, particularly children. It also aims to minimize exploitation risks posed by Big Tech companies and foreign adversaries. Additionally, provisions within APRA are expected to benefit conservatives and dissidents by limiting data collection abuses facilitated through government collusion with Big Tech.