### Civil Rights Groups Urge Democrats to Reject Privacy Bill Changes
#### Controversial Amendments to Privacy Bill
Dozens of civil rights organizations have been urging Democrats to reject recent changes to a privacy bill. These changes, which some Democrats surprisingly supported, were described as “immensely significant and unacceptable.”
#### Removal of Civil Rights Protections
The revised bill, influenced by conservative lobbyists representing big business, removed a crucial section on “civil rights.” This section aimed to prevent businesses from using data in ways that discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or disability. GOP lawmakers are firmly opposed to such language for reasons that are [above obvious](https://fortune.com/2023/07/24/dei-coordinated-attack-civil-right-act-1964-supreme-court-politics-leadership-alphonso-david/).
#### Strong Response from Civil Society
The deletion of sections holding companies accountable for discriminatory data-driven decisions in areas like housing, employment, and healthcare prompted a strong response from civil society organizations. Groups such as the NAACP, the Japanese American Citizens League, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice voiced their concerns.
“Privacy rights and civil rights are no longer separate concepts—they are inextricably bound together and must be protected. Abuse of our data is no longer limited to targeted advertising or data breaches. Instead, our data are used in decisions about who gets a mortgage, who gets into which schools, and who gets hired—and who does not.”
#### Additional Cuts to User Protections
The latest version of the American Privacy Rights Act (ARPA) also excluded language that would allow users to opt-out before companies use algorithms to make significant decisions using their personal data. Additionally, provisions requiring companies to audit the impacts of their algorithms were removed.
#### Pro-Business Caveats
The removed provisions included pro-business caveats. For example, users could only opt out of algorithmic decision-making if it wasn’t “prohibitively costly” or “demonstrably impracticable due to technological limitations.” Companies could also limit public knowledge about audit results by hiring an independent assessor.
“Prior versions of APRA required companies that developed or used AI for making automated decisions about people in certain important areas like employment, housing, and credit to be transparent about those systems and to allow people to opt out of that automated decisionmaking,” says Eric Null, codirector of the privacy and data project at the Center for Democracy & Technology, a digital rights nonprofit. “Without those provisions, people can and will be subject to AI that makes or contributes to important, life-changing decisions about them, and they will have little to no way to protect themselves.”
#### Pressure from Digital Rights Groups
Digital rights groups such as Access Now, Demand Progress, and Free Press Action joined the call to reject these changes. They argued that a privacy bill without civil rights protections would not effectively protect against serious data abuses and criticized the lack of stakeholder consultation.
#### Lawmakers’ Response
WIRED reached out to 23 Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee (E&C) for their response. Only one lawmaker, US Representative Nanette Barragán, replied:
“I already had concerns with the American Privacy Rights Act,” US representative Nanette Barragán said, pointing to language in the bill that could arguably undermine stronger data privacy protections already implemented by her home state of California. “The latest draft only deepens my concerns about the bill because critical civil rights provisions have been removed from the proposal.”
#### Committee’s Reaction
In a statement after the bill’s cancellation, E&C’s ranking Democrat, Frank Pallone, Jr., criticized GOP leaders for interfering with the committee’s process. He also thanked the committee’s Republican chair, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, for her dedication to “giving Americans back control of their data.”
“We’re not giving up,” adds Pallone, declaring he and his colleagues are the only ones in Congress with the guts to “take on Big Tech on behalf of the American people.”
6 Comments
Will this bill even make a difference?
Does this mean our data won’t be for sale anymore?!
Yikes, another bill that’ll probably get bogged down in politics!
Aqua: Are they actually going to enforce it this time?
Sapphireb: Another bill to add to the pile they’ll ignore!
Sapphiref: Is this just another headline with no substance?