WASHINGTON – Craig Albright, Senior Vice President of US Government Relations at BSA | The Software Alliance, issued the following statement regarding the latest version of the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) currently under consideration by the House Energy and Commerce Committee:

“BSA | The Software Alliance applauds House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Ranking Member Frank Pallone for their continued bipartisan work to pass a national privacy law. Enterprise software companies have for years called for a new national comprehensive privacy law in the United States that ensures the use of personal data is consistent with consumers’ expectations and gives certainty to businesses. These leaders are doing the necessary hard work to achieve this outcome and we commend them for their efforts.

BSA appreciates the many significant and important improvements made to comprehensive privacy legislation since it was first proposed last Congress, particularly those modifications that clearly distinguish between controllers and processors of data, and which tailor obligations that reflect their different roles in protecting privacy. While we will continue to provide constructive input to House and Senate leaders working to improve the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) and make the legislation more workable and effective, BSA is disappointed that the latest draft does not make the changes needed to reach this goal. We continue to have concerns about the legislation which we urge the Committee to address.

For example, as drafted APRA would task service providers with transparency and data minimization obligations better suited for entities that control data, and which have direct insight into the substance of data and its use, and which may impede the ability to improve products over time. APRA’s enforcement provisions also deserve continued work to ensure that its privacy protections extend uniformly and nationally and do not inadvertently result in frivolous litigation.

Also, this new version of APRA now misses the opportunity to establish basic rules for high-risk uses of artificial intelligence, which were included in past versions of this bill. APRA’s provisions on algorithmic discrimination need not be part of a national privacy law, but Congress should still take action to establish national standards to address risks of bias and discrimination associated with AI.”