Calif. Leaders Urge Congress Not to Undercut State Privacy Laws

Don’t preempt California’s privacy law, warned Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) and the California Privacy Protection Agency in a letter to Congress Tuesday. They opposed preemption language in the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (HR-8152) ahead of a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday. Congress should set a floor, not the ceiling, for privacy protections, they said in a letter. In a separate statement, Newsom said any national privacy law “should strengthen, not weaken our existing laws here in California.” Bonta added, “There is no doubt that stronger federal action is needed to protect the privacy of Americans, but these actions must not preempt existing protections in place.” If HR-8152 is adopted as is, “not only could existing privacy protections be weakened, but it could prevent California legislators, and Californians through the ballot initiative, from passing new protections to address changes in technology,” said the privacy agency’s Executive Director Ashkan Soltani.