Press Releases

Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA), announced that the New Democrat Coalition (NDC) has endorsed her privacy legislation, the Information Transparency and Personal Data Control Act (H.R. 2013). The New Democrats are the largest coalition in the House of Representatives, with over 100 members.

“I’m very pleased this critical legislation has received the support of my New Democrat colleagues,” said DelBene, who serves as NDC’s Vice-Chair of Policy. “Our coalition is about finding solutions to tough problems, and my legislation is an important step toward ensuring that consumers have more control over their most sensitive information. This endorsement creates momentum in Congress to finally protect consumer privacy. The bill has received positive feedback from key stakeholders, consumer advocates and my colleagues. Congress must act to protect consumer privacy.”

“New Democrat Coalition Members have been leading the way to develop forward-looking legislation to foster innovation while protecting consumers’ data privacy. This bill will bring transparency to consumer data and help consumers protect and control sensitive personal information,” said NDC Chair Derek Kilmer. “The NDC looks forward to helping advance consumer-focused legislation that strikes an important balance of prioritizing privacy while promoting innovation.”

DelBene's legislation would:

• Help consumers by ensuring all users are presented with companies’ privacy policies in "plain English."
• Require companies to allow users to “opt in” before companies can use consumers’ most sensitive private information in ways the public might not expect.
• Require companies to declare if and with whom their sensitive information will be shared, and the purpose of sharing such information.
• Give the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) privacy targeted rule making authority and empowers states attorney generals to also pursue violations of this legislation.
• Give the FTC the ability to fine bad actors on their first offense.
• Require companies to obtain privacy audits by a neutral third party and submit the results to the FTC biennially.
• Creates a strong national standard to keep consumers in control of their data.

H.R. 2013 has 25 cosponsors. The bill text can be read here and full details of the bill can be found here. DelBene first introduced a version of this legislation in the 115^th Congress.

DelBene is a member of the Ways and Means Committee as well as the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. She is co-chair of the Digital Trade Caucus, Women's High-Tech Caucus, and Internet of Things Caucus.

She represents Washington’s first congressional district.