Setting a marker for lawmakers who want to give stronger enforcement powers to the Federal Trade Commission, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden from Oregon drafted a proposal called the Consumer Data Protection Act.
The proposed draft aims to create a “Do Not Track” data sharing opt-out website that would allow users to 1) prevent their data from being shared, 2) view their opt-out status, and 3) change such status. The draft gives stronger enforcement power to the FTC who can fine erring companies for the first offense. Companies covered under the proposed law (those who handle data of at least 1 million users) would be required to provide an annual data protection report signed by their top executives, which also makes them criminally liable (they can face imprisonment for as high as 20 years) if they are found to mislead the FTC.
As the tech industry continues to face intense scrutiny over data breach scandals, no federal legislation has yet been enacted as a response which would give the FTC more enforcement power and more agents to support its goals.
We will continue to follow these issues. For more information, check out Axios' article about the Wyden Privacy Bill Draft or read more about the Privacy Bill in this Verge article.