Draft US bill: Prison time, hefty fines for data privacy violations
WASHINGTON: A senior Democratic US senator on Thursday unveiled draft legislation that would allow hefty fines and as much as 20-year prison terms for executives who violate privacy and cybersecurity standards.
Senator Ron Wyden released a draft of legislation that would grant the Federal Trade Commission authority to write privacy regulations. The measure would also allow maximum fines of 4 per cent of revenue — matching European rules adopted earlier this year.
“It’s time for some sunshine on this shadowy network of information sharing,” Wyden said in a statement. “My bill creates radical transparency for consumers, gives them new tools to control their information and backs it up with tough rules.”
Data privacy has become an increasingly important issue since massive breaches compromised the personal information of millions of US Internet and social media users, as well as breaches involving large retailers and credit reporting agency Equifax Inc.
Wyden would also create a national “Do Not Track” system to stop companies from tracking Internet users by sharing or selling data and targeting advertisements based on their personal information. The bill would also subject senior executives at companies with privacy violations to fines of $5 million or more.