The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) has issued a letter to House leaders emphasizing the necessity for "strong, comprehensive federal privacy legislation" that safeguards consumers, resolves conflicts with state laws, and sustains innovation critical to U.S. productivity. The association has expressed opposition to the "American Privacy Rights Act" (APRA), stating it does not meet these criteria.

The House Committee on Energy & Commerce is set to review APRA and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) on Thursday. In its letter, CCIA highlights concerns regarding restrictive data processing prohibitions and ambiguous knowledge standards that could adversely affect privacy. The association argues that the broad private right of action and limited preemption of state laws would result in an inadequate consumer privacy framework.

For over a decade, CCIA has been advocating for baseline federal privacy legislation and online protections for children as part of its efforts to promote trust and safety online.

CCIA President & CEO Matt Schruers stated: “After waiting so long for federal privacy standards it is unfortunate to see a muddled bill that has requirements that conflict with logic and the broadly shared goals of protecting privacy. APRA implements overly restrictive burdens on companies that will degrade services that consumers rely on. Backed by unpredictable enforcement mechanisms, the result will be a net negative for privacy and technological innovation. Nothing less than a substantial re-working of APRA is necessary to make this legislation work in the marketplace.”

Schruers also commented on KOSA: “On KOSA, serious concerns arise which could chill constitutional speech. Protecting children should not come at the cost of greater privacy risk by forced data collections or implementing untested age-gating technologies.”