No. There is no single unifying data privacy law currently on federal books. The US Congress has not yet passed any broad law protecting all Americans from data harvesting and/or other data privacy violations. What is emerging, however, is a growing patchwork of smaller laws that do help Americans in some ways. More importantly, though, we may be seeing a bipartisan movement to pass stricter data privacy laws at the federal level. 

• Tech trade groups are also in support of a Congressional bill because they worry the Democratic-controlled FTC is gearing up to pass regulations on its own that would be way more disruptive to the industry than what they believe a bipartisan Congressional bill would achieve.

The California Case

In 2018, California passed the first data privacy law in the country. As the New York Times writes, it enabled Golden State residents to see what data large internet companies have you on, who they've shared it with, and ask that it not be sold, or even deleted entirely. Yet, if the California bill was far-reaching, it sparked lobbyists to fight laws that came after it (see: Virginia and Utah) and scale them back, according to Protocol.com. Today, states are unlikely to see a comprehensive data privacy law like the one California enacted passed in their own capitals.

The Verdict

It's increasingly rare in our hyper-polarized climate to find a topic that garners bipartisan support — no matter the motives. Will Congress be able to seize the moment and pass a broad data privacy law that protects Americans for years to come?