Today, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) joined numerous civil society organizations in urging the House Energy & Commerce Committee to reinstate civil rights protections to the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) before proceeding with a markup of the bill.

Last week, the committee introduced a revised version of APRA that, while improving certain sections, significantly reduced civil rights and algorithm protections. "We recognize and respect that Representatives Pallone and McMorris Rodgers want to move good privacy legislation forward, and this bill would lead to some significant privacy improvements," CDT stated. "But civil rights protections are a vital and necessary aspect of privacy and AI policy."

The statement emphasized that using data or creating algorithms that discriminate based on protected characteristics is highly problematic. Without these protections, the bill will not address significant privacy harms effectively. "Privacy legislation should clearly prevent discriminatory data practices," CDT asserted.

The organizations have called on the House Energy & Commerce Committee to delay its upcoming markup until these sections are reinstated.

For further details, readers can access the full letter through CDT's platform.