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SIIA Statement on the American Privacy Rights Act and Kids Online Safety Act Advancement

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Today the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce voted to advance the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) to the full Committee for consideration. The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) released the following statement now that the bill will advance to the full House Energy and Commerce Committee for consideration.

The following can be attributed to Chris Mohr, President, Software & Information Industry Association:

“Today’s subcommittee hearing hit on many common themes and concerns that SIIA shares. While comprehensive privacy online protection is the goal we’re all working toward, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that APRA and KOSA fall short.

APRA should be focused on protecting consumers’ privacy against harmful data practices. We remain concerned that the bill risks restricting large amounts of useful and widely accepted data that consumers and many small businesses have come to rely on. By imposing broad restrictions, APRA may inadvertently hamper services and innovations.

Certain provisions of APRA would also undermine the United States’ position as a global leader in tech and AI development. Despite its intentions, APRA granting the FTC rulemaking authority over future permitted uses only serves to license innovation from the top down – which is the surest way to dampen it. Congress has historically struggled to pass laws that anticipate the future uses of technology or provide a vision beyond the present. As such, this bill restricts uses of data to contemporary understandings and fails to provide a forward-looking framework that supports future technological innovation.

Perhaps most importantly, a comprehensive privacy bill should provide consumers with greater autonomy over their own data and how it is used. Ironically, this legislation actually removes consumers’ control over their most sensitive data by telling Americans what they can and can’t do with this information, breaking with standards and emerging norms set by almost every U.S. state privacy law.

Lastly, it is critical that legislation meant to protect children gets these protections right. SIIA continues to be a strong advocate for keeping our nation’s children and teens safe online, with kids and teens relying on online services for staying connected and maintaining access to educational resources. But both APRA and KOSA take the wrong approach to keeping America’s youth safe on the internet. APRA would make all information about minors sensitive data, placing new restrictions on how parents might be able to share family photos with relatives or how educational institutions might connect with prospective students. KOSA, for its part, establishes a duty of reasonable care, but fails to define “reasonable” or even the steps that should be taken to exercise care.

Strengthening America’s privacy standards and ensuring everyone can have a safe experience online is something we fully support, but neither APRA nor KOSA are the way to do this.”

 

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SIIA Provides Feedback on APRA, COPPA 2.0, and KOSA

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The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) expresses its support for the proposed American Privacy Rights Act of 2024 (APRA), which includes the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act 2.0 (COPPA 2.0) and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), while highlighting areas for improvement. SIIA appreciates efforts to achieve a national, uniform consumer privacy law, acknowledging APRA’s advancements, such as the FTC’s ability to innovate and the clear definitions surrounding AI and consequential decisions. However, SIIA raises concerns about APRA’s restrictive data collection rules, overbroad definitions of sensitive data, and stringent requirements on data brokers, which could impede technological development and beneficial data use. Additionally, while COPPA 2.0 clarifies protections for student data, it might inadvertently hinder contextual advertising, impacting free content for kids. SIIA also criticizes KOSA for potentially enforcing content censorship and invasive age verification, urging Congress to refine these bills to better balance privacy, innovation, and constitutional rights.
Full Letter Here
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SIIA Statement on Updated Draft of the American Privacy Rights Act

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The following statement can be attributed to Chris Mohr, President, the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), regarding the updated draft of the American Privacy Rights Act of 2024 (APRA), released on May 21:

It is critical for Congress to pass comprehensive federal privacy legislation to end the current state privacy patchwork that is harmful to consumers and businesses alike. The latest version of APRA is well-intentioned, contains meaningful provisions, and is an improvement over the previous version. In the updated draft, we were also pleased to see greater rulemaking flexibility around how APRA’s restrictions on data use may evolve with innovative technologies, as well as clarifications around artificial intelligence tools, how these tools are used, and where additional scrutiny is warranted.

Significant issues nonetheless remain. In its current form, APRA could hamstring U.S. global competitiveness by unnecessarily restricting the purposes for which data may be used, thus reducing the availability of data for general purpose technological development. It would also unintentionally restrict a large amount of positive commercial publishing activity on which U.S. consumers rely, complicating routine activities such as journalism and analysis that relies on publicly available information and reducing the availability of free online services.

The new draft also includes language to update the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. We appreciate the work done to harmonize requirements and urge continued engagement with stakeholders to incorporate language that enable young people to access high-quality and age-appropriate content. We specifically ask for language that would clarify that contextual advertising can be used to support age-appropriate content for all ages.

The need to get federal privacy legislation right – not just passed quickly – is critical and legislators should keep working to ensure a safe online experience that is regulated responsibly.

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ICYMI: POLITICO Pro’s Morning Tech 5/22

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As seen in POLITICO Pro’s Morning Tech 5/22

SECTION 230 IN THE SPOTLIGHT

A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee is set to review draft legislation from Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers and ranking member Frank Pallone that aims to sunset Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. This law currently shields internet platforms from liability for most user-generated content. The proposed bill sets an 18-month deadline for tech companies to negotiate reforms with lawmakers, or they will lose this crucial liability protection.

  • Tech Industry Response: Major tech industry groups, including TechNet and the Software and Information Industry Association, strongly oppose changes to Section 230, claiming it protects innovation and competition, especially for startups and small businesses.

AI EXPORT CONTROL BILL GETS ITS MARKUP

The House Foreign Affairs Committee will also meet to discuss the ENFORCE Act, which could impose extensive export controls on AI systems deemed critical to national security. This includes requiring licenses for such systems. The markup was delayed to accommodate last-minute negotiations with the Biden administration.

Tech Industry Concerns:

  • Industry Opposition: The Software and Information Industry Association has expressed serious concerns, arguing that a licensing regime could impair U.S. competitiveness and give an advantage to foreign technologies that aren’t bound by the same standards. SIIA suggests leveraging the administration’s AI executive order and funding the U.S. AI Safety Institute instead.
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SIIA Applauds Secretary Raimondo’s Strategic Vision for the AI Safety Institute

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The following statement can be attributed to Paul Lekas, Senior Vice President, Software & Information Industry Association.

We applaud Secretary Raimondo’s ambitious strategic vision for the U.S. Safety Institute (U.S. AISI). The U.S. AISI, housed within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will serve as the cornerstone for advancing the science of AI safety and responsible AI innovation in the United States. This is essential to enable the United States to continue leading in AI innovation – and do so in a way that reflects the interests of civil society, academia, industry, and the public sector. Recognizing the global dimension of AI, we are also encouraged by the launch of the International Network of AI Safety Institutes. The Network expands on crucial collaborations among the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Singapore, and the European Union, and provides the framework necessary to promote cross-border collaboration and align AI policy based on science, safety, and democratic values.

The U.S. AISI will be critical for the United States’ ability to shape global policy around AI. We encourage Congress to support the strategic vision by providing the Department of Commerce with the authorities and appropriations needed for the U.S. AISI to lead domestically and internationally, such as by passing the   Future of AI Innovation Act.

As a proud member of the U.S. AISI Consortium, SIIA looks forward to working closely with the Commerce Department to support NIST’s valuable and long-standing efforts to promote AI safety while fostering U.S. innovation.