Senate Commerce Committee lawmakers wrestled during a Feb. 27 hearing with how much new authority to give the Federal Trade Commission to regulate data privacy practices.
House and Senate lawmakers are eyeing legislation that potentially would give the agency increased powers while pre-empting state privacy laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act. But Democrats and Republicans differ about precisely which powers the commission should have.
Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said it was “clear” the U.S. needs privacy legislation that “is enforced by the nation’s top privacy enforcement authority, the Federal Trade Commission.” But Wicker said legislation should “enhance ...