Friend,

Congress is back in session after a long midterm-election recess, and we have a window of opportunity to move an important privacy bill to a full vote in the House of Representatives.

The American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA) passed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee earlier this year with a huge margin of support on both sides of the aisle. We have a real shot at making this bill a reality — but first, the House must act.

That’s where you come in. Will you add your name to our petition calling on the House to pass the American Data Privacy and Protection Act as soon as possible?

In 2019, Free Press Action and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law released model legislation designed to rein in abusive data practices that violate internet users’ civil rights.

The American Data Privacy and Protection Act makes good on several of the key concepts advanced in that model bill, prohibiting online platforms and other entities from collecting, processing and sharing people’s data in ways that discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or disability. That’s HUGE.

This legislation would also:

• Reduce the amount of information that websites and apps can gather and use to target vulnerable individuals and groups, limiting data collection and use to only what is necessary for providing a service that the user requests;
• Strengthen the Federal Trade Commission’s powers to take actions on privacy and civil rights;
• Create a private right of action for people who want to go to court to vindicate the new rights created by the bill; and,
• Create special protections for especially sensitive data like Social Security numbers, biometric information, genetic markers and precise geolocation data.

The American Data Privacy and Protection Act clarifies that data rights are civil rights and has the bipartisan support to get through Congress. Let’s do this.

Call on the House to pass the American Data Privacy and Protection Act by adding your name to our petition today. We are the constituents our elected officials must answer to. The more of us who speak up, the more pressure we can put on our representatives to pass this legislation before the end of the year.

Thanks for all that you do,

Nora and the rest of the Free Press Action team
freepress.net

P.S. It’s hard to find consensus on most issues in a divided Washington, D.C. — but the American Data Privacy and Protection Act isn’t one of them. With your support, we can urge the House to advance this legislation to protect our digital civil rights — take action now.