An issue that has not drawn much public attention but which has potential major implications for U.S. employers is federal data privacy legislation. And while consensus on the best way to protect consumer data has been difficult to achieve, there are recent indications that Congress is moving closer to agreement on how to proceed.
Of most relevance is H.R. 8152, the so-called American Data and Privacy Protection Act, which was approved on a bipartisan vote of 53-2 by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in July and awaits floor action by the full House of Representatives.
As discussed in more detail below, the bill would enact a strong national standard to protect consumer data privacy, while generally preempting inconsistent state and local laws. Importantly for employers, however, the bill explicitly exempts “employee data,” which means that provisions in state laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) that regulate employee data would not be preempted.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.