U.S. Legislation

As federal lawmakers consider proposals for a federal baseline privacy law in the United States, one of the most complex challenges is federal preemption, or the extent to which a federal law should nullify the state laws on the books and the emerging laws addressing the collection and use of personal information. Many recognize the […]

Today, the Colorado Senate approved the House version of the Colorado Privacy Act (SB21-190) that passed yesterday, on June 7. If approved by Governor Jared Polis, Colorado will follow Virginia and California as the third U.S. state to establish baseline legal protections for consumer privacy. “Although the Colorado Privacy Act contains notable advances that build […]

During 2021, state lawmakers have proposed a range of models to regulate consumer privacy and data protection.  As the first state to pass consumer privacy legislation in 2018, California established a highly influential model with the California Consumer Privacy Act. In the years since, other states have introduced dozens of nearly identical CCPA-like state bills. […]

In legislatures across the United States, state lawmakers are introducing proposals to govern the uses of automated decision-making systems (ADS) in record numbers. In contrast to comprehensive privacy bills that would regulate collection and use of personal information, automated decision-making system (ADS) bills in 2021 specifically seek to address increasing concerns about racial bias or […]

On March 24, the FPF hosted “Dark Patterns:” Manipulative UX Design and the Role of Regulation. So-called “dark patterns” are user interface design choices that benefit an online service by coercing, manipulative, or deceiving users into making unintended or potentially harmful decisions. The event provided a critical examination of the ways in which manipulative interfaces can […]

By Srivats Shankar, FPF Legal Intern For the 14th annual Computers, Privacy and Data Protection conference, which took place between 27 and 29 January, 2021, FPF hosted a panel of experts to discuss “US Privacy Law: The Beginning of a New Era”, whose recording has just been published. The panel was moderated by Dr. Gabriela […]

Statement by Future of Privacy Forum CEO Jules Polonetsky regarding the approval of the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act: “Today, Governor Ralph Northam signed the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA), making Virginia the second state, following California, to establish baseline legal protections for consumer privacy – a significant milestone in the United States. The […]

Stacey Gray, Pollyanna Sanderson & Samuel Adams In the absence of federal privacy legislation, U.S. states are weighing in. In Virginia, the “Consumer Data Protection Act” (“CDPA”) (HB 2307 / SB 1392) could be signed into law within weeks, and if passed, would take effect on Jan. 1, 2023. If the law passes, it would […]

With more than 30 bills filed in the United States Congress since 2018 to regulate privacy with overwhelming support from the public, it looks like the US might be going through a ‘privacy renaissance’. This week, FPF Senior Counsel Dr. Gabriela Zanfir-Fortuna’s article, “America’s ‘privacy renaissance’: What to expect under a new presidency and Congress,” […]

The Future of Privacy Forum released a new policy brief, Location Data Under Existing Privacy Laws.  Defining and regulating location data in a privacy law can be an elusive challenge. In part, this is due to its ubiquity in our lives: information about how devices and people move through spaces over time is utilized by Wi-Fi […]