Hello all, and happy Thursday!
Last week, Republican lawmakers introduced the SECURE Data Act, the third major effort at a federal comprehensive data privacy law after APRA and the ADPPA. Before you get too excited, I struggle to see the path forward for this bill (though it is early days for it in the legislative process).
Unlike APRA and ADPPA, there isnât much bipartisan support for this law, in part due to a broader preemption of state privacy laws than those bills. APRA and ADPPA preempted state comprehensive data privacy laws, but explicitly preserved several specific state laws (like biometrics, student, and employee privacy laws). In contrast, the SECURE Data just preempts any state law that relates to its provisions.
Preemption of comprehensive data privacy laws was the primary reason why APRA and ADPPA struggled to progress, so it seems unlikely that a broader, more ambiguous preemption will do the trick. But anythingâs possibleâespecially these days.
Best,
Arlo
Highlights From OsanoBlog: The SECURE Data Act: A Federal Privacy Framework (But for Real This Time?)
On April 22, 2026, Rep. John Joyce (R-PA) introduced the Securing and Establishing Consumer Uniform Rights and Enforcement over Data Act, or SECURE Data Act. Itâs the first major federal consumer privacy bill released in yearsâwill this time be different?
Blog: The Alabama Personal Data Protection Act (APDPA): The US Patchwork Gets Patchier
Alabama recently became the 21st state with a data privacy law! It bears resemblance to other Virginia-style privacy laws, but itâs got its own unique featuresânotably, a rather precise definition of âsales,â the absence of assessment requirements, and more. Check out our blog to get a sense of your requirements and how to become compliant.
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The Greek government is pressing ahead with a plan to ban anonymity on social media, aiming to curb rising toxicity, according to Dimitris Papastergiou, the minister of digital governance. The idea has been circulating for months and is now being handled at the highest levels of government.
Key House Republicans recently released two bills that would create a national data privacy proposal and overwrite more than 20 state laws, according to committee staff. The effort includes two billsâthe SECURE Data Act, led by Rep. John Joyce (R-Pa.), and a second financial data privacy measure dubbed the GUARD Financial Data Act.
Californiaâs privacy agency urged Congress to reject a Republican-led privacy bill unveiled last week, saying it would wipe out privacy rights in the state and kill the agencyâs enforcement powers. The SECURE Data Act has a broad preemption provision that would cancel existing rights under the California Consumer Protection Act and Delete Act, Tom Kemp, CalPrivacyâs executive director, wrote in a Monday letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which rolled out the legislation.
The European Union plans to turn the focus of its landmark rules curbing the power of Big Tech to cloud and artificial intelligence services, aiming to promote âfairer competition after seeing positive results in other digital areas, EU regulators said. The EU Commission said the aim was to make cloud services and âAI "fairer and more contestable". It will examine whether certain AI services should be designated as virtual âassistant core platform services.
During oral arguments, the US Supreme Court considered whether geofence warrants allow law enforcement agencies to request technology companies to identify devices located within a specific geographic area. The court appeared divided while weighing whether law enforcement's use of location history data violates the Fourth Amendment's protections against unreasonable searches and general warrants.
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