Congress to Take Another Swing at Privacy Legislation

The discussions are expected to center on measures that have been proposed for years, but never written into law—including clear rules on what personal information is off limits to businesses and the rights of individuals to control data collected on them.

A privacy law could also strengthen the government’s ability to enforce privacy standards, for example, through the Federal Trade Commission.

Unlike most other countries, the U.S. has never adopted comprehensive consumer privacy rules, only narrow protections for financial, health and other highly personal types of data.

That has led to concerns about the ability of big tech companies to reach into users’ daily lives, particularly as the companies have developed more sophisticated methods of tracking consumers’ purchasing preferences, location and other details.

The lack of federal privacy rules has even become a concern for the big tech companies themselves, particularly as the European Union and other countries —as well as a few U.S. states—have moved to adopt aggressive measures to restrict the companies. Some companies have increasingly looked to the federal government to set a more accommodating standard that could supplant the tougher state standards.

(More to Come)

Write to John D. McKinnon at john.mckinnon@wsj.com