This past week, United States Senator Sherrod Brown proposed a draft data privacy bill aptly named the Data Accountability and Transparency Act of 2020 (DATA). The DATA seeks to restructure the current “consent” privacy paradigm - often critiqued as ineffective - to one that sets forth stringent limits on the collection, use, and sharing of American consumers’ personal data. By dissolving the notice and consent regime, the proposed legislation would alleviate the heavy burden of reading and comprehending the traditionally verbose and convoluted “privacy policies” found on company websites.

The DATA includes a number of individual protections that require organizations and agencies to: guarantee accuracy of, access to, and portability of data; provide a description of personal data collected and disclose the reason for the collection at the time of collection; and implement and maintain reasonable security procedures to protect personal data. Individuals may also challenge the reason for collection and request a human review of any automated decisions.