News/Media Alliance applauds introduction of SECURE Data Act

ARLINGTON, Va. — Representative Brett Guthrie (KY-02), chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Representative John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13), vice chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, have introduced The SECURE Data Act, which would create a new national framework for consumer data privacy.

This legislation, assembled by the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s Privacy Working Group, extends consumer data protections to all Americans while including critical protections for reporting and newsgathering, protecting Americans’ access to high-quality journalism and providing defense for news media publishers who have been disproportionately subject to frivolous lawsuits for technical infractions of state privacy laws. The draft bill would create a consistent and predictable national standard by drawing on consumer privacy language already adopted by nearly 20 state legislatures. 

News/Media Alliance President and CEO Danielle Coffey said, “We applaud Chairman Guthrie and Vice-Chair Joyce for their tireless efforts to introduce a federal standard that recognizes the complexity of our modern digital landscape. The SECURE Data Act would provide a common sense and consistent framework that would extend important data protections to all American consumers while providing workable requirements for businesses and protecting high-quality journalism at the same time.”