Consumer Data Protection and Privacy: A Proposal For a New Law and an Independent Agency

From social media to banking and healthcare, online services increasingly pervade the everyday lives of American consumers. Currently, there is no comprehensive federal regulation to ensure personal data privacy and protection, and consumers have no ownership rights over their personal data. There are various information and sector specific privacy laws, enforced by multiple agencies with overlapping jurisdiction. Moreover, without a principal federal law, many states have developed their own data privacy regulations. Not only is this collective scheme ineffective for American consumers, but it is also an inefficient form of government regulation and makes compliance difficult. This Note proposes creating the Consumer Data Privacy and Protection Bureau, an independent agency that would consolidate jurisdiction for efficient and effective regulation through a consumer protection framework. It would be created through a new law, the Data Privacy and Protection Act. In addition to creating the Consumer Data Privacy and Protection Bureau, this baseline, comprehensive federal legislation would provide basic data rights to consumers, and ease compliance for companies in the United States and abroad. With bipartisan support and an increasingly digital society, this type of reform is realistic, necessary, and timely.