Will the U.S. Get a National Privacy Law?

The United States is one of the only industrialized countries that lacks a single national privacy law, which affects our global competitiveness and creates barriers to common business practices. On Tuesday, June 14, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing on the American Data Privacy and Protection Act discussion draft — a leading contender for a comprehensive federal privacy framework. The draft would be the first comprehensive federal bill to require data security and protection of covered data for most entities. It includes data security policies and administrative, technical, and physical practices and procedures. Among the most important aspects of the draft bill, however, are laying a cybersecurity foundation, increasing competitiveness and international security, protecting Americans from adversaries and accounting for data security and cybersecurity needs. Our economy, consumer safety and — perhaps most importantly — national security hang in the balance of passing data security and privacy legislation. Without privacy, after all, there can be no security.