Data Privacy Bill Would Finally Rein In Brokers, Consumer Groups Say

Consumer advocates rallied behind the American Data Shield Act on Thursday, casting the bipartisan bill as the first serious attempt in a generation to restrain an industry built on buying and selling personal information. The legislation would require data brokers to register with the Federal Trade Commission, honor universal opt-out signals, and delete consumer records on request.

Supporters point to years of documented harms: location histories sold to bounty hunters, health-adjacent data swept into advertising profiles, and lists of financially distressed households marketed to predatory lenders. "The market has had two decades to police itself," said Dana Whitlock of the Digital Fairness Project, a consumer coalition backing the bill. "It chose not to."

The bill's civil-rights provisions have drawn particular praise from labor and housing groups. Landlords and employers would be barred from purchasing inferred data — characteristics guessed from browsing behavior — when screening applicants, a practice advocates say quietly reproduces discrimination that fair-housing law was meant to end.

Critics on the left worry the final text does not go far enough. The private right of action is limited to intentional violations, and enforcement funding for the FTC remains subject to annual appropriations. Several state attorneys general have urged Congress not to preempt stronger state statutes already on the books.

Even so, most advocacy groups are urging passage. With fourteen state privacy laws now in force and dozens more proposed, they argue a strong federal floor — not ceiling — is the only durable fix. The Senate Commerce Committee advanced the bill this week, setting up a floor fight after the August recess.