WASHINGTON—Today, The Heritage Foundation’s Tech Policy Center praises the efforts of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and Chairwoman Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) in securing much-needed consumer data protections and child safety provisions in the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA).

Kara Frederick, director, Tech Policy Center, issued the following statement:

“The unrestricted collection and exploitation of personal data by major tech platforms such as Google and Meta is at the root of nearly every challenge we face as conservatives. This pervasive surveillance—enabled by the extensive data harvesting capabilities of Big Tech—has given rise to a host of threats that undermine our fundamental rights and values. It’s time to put Big Tech on notice and let them know that the gravy train, built on the backs of Americans and our children, is over.”

Specifically, APRA contains these key objectives of The Heritage Foundation’s Tech Policy Center to:

• Establish a federal data protection framework with appropriate standards, transparency, and oversight for how entities collect, store, and share U.S. user data;
• Shield American children from the predations of these companies via a prohibition on targeted advertising to minors;
• Address third-party data collection mechanisms on U.S. users;
• Circumscribe current commercial microtargeting practices; and
• Enshrine certain U.S. user data as sensitive, among other protections.

Specifically, the bill:

Reduces incentives to abuse the American consumer, offers citizens, especially children, baseline privacy protections, and reduces the likelihood of exploitation by Big Tech and foreign adversaries. Further, the data minimization provisions within this proposal will have salutary impacts on conservatives and dissidents, in particular by restricting data collection and abuse by Big Tech colluding with the government to target U.S. citizens.

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