California Privacy Protection Agency Releases Letter Opposing H.R. 8152, the American Data Privacy and Protection Act

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The California Privacy Protection Agency has sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy opposing H.R. 8152, the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA).

The bill, which advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee last month, seeks to replace California’s landmark law with weaker protections and compromises the ability of the newly founded California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) to fulfill its mandate to protect the privacy of Californians.

On July 28, 2022, the CPPA Board voted unanimously to oppose ADPPA and any other bill that seeks to preempt the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The Board, however, voted to support a privacy framework that would set a “true floor” on privacy and allow states to further innovate on those protections. Governor Newsom, Assembly Speaker Rendon, ten attorneys general, including California’s Rob Bonta, and members of the California Senate have also released letters raising concerns about ADPPA.

The CPPA, created and funded in 2020 by the California voters, is the first data protection authority in the United States, and has as its the sole focus the protection of California residents’ privacy rights. Led by a five-member Board, it is vested with the authority to issue regulations, audit businesses’ compliance, and undertake enforcement to protect Californians’ privacy.

Ashkan Soltani, Executive Director of the CPPA, said: “Americans deserve more than ADPPA. In an era in which Roe v. Wade has been overturned, Americans need the ability to have meaningful protections over sensitive information that can be used to incriminate them. Yet ADPPA would remove important safeguards that are already available to Californians today and tie the hands of states from improving privacy protections in the future. We urge lawmakers to focus their efforts on ensuring that any privacy legislation follows the model of other federal privacy laws and sets a floor, not a ceiling, on privacy rights.”

California Representatives Eshoo and Barragán, both members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, voted against ADDPA at last month’s markup. Every member of the California delegation voted in favor of an amendment that would allow the states to pass stronger laws — which Rep. Eshoo proposed.