House Lawmakers Voice Different Approaches to Data Privacy Bill (1)

House lawmakers from both parties are pushing for a broad data privacy law, but may differ about how to write it.

Republicans at a Feb. 26 Energy and Commerce Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee hearing said Congress should concentrate on pre-empting state privacy laws. But the subcommittee’s Democratic chairwoman said the Federal Trade Commission should be given more power to regulate companies.

“Unfortunately, in recent years, the Federal Trade Commission’s enforcement action have done little to curb the worst behavior in data collection and data security,” Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said. “It is important to equip regulators and enforcers with ...