WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Representatives Lori Trahan (D-MA-03) and Chuck Edwards (R-NC-11) introduced the Data Elimination and Limiting Extensive Tracking and Exchange (DELETE) Act to protect Americans’ private online data. The DELETE Act would create a system for individuals to request all data brokers, companies that collect personal data for commercial use, delete any personal data the broker may have collected and to not collect it in the future.
“Privacy should be expected and protected online,” said Dr. Cassidy. “This bill gives Americans a solution to ensure their personal data is not tracked, collected, bought or sold by data brokers.”
“Data brokers are buying, collecting, and reselling vast amounts of personal information about all of us without our consent. This bipartisan bill is about returning control of our personal data to us, the American people,” said Senator Ossoff.
“Once our phone number, web history, or even social security number gets added to a data broker’s list, it becomes nearly impossible to get it removed,” said Representative Trahan. “It’s long past time to rein in the shady practices of data brokers. That’s why I’m reintroducing the bipartisan DELETE Act to return power back to consumers by giving each of us the right to have our personal information removed from these lists.”
“The DELETE Act gives citizens a platform to easily request that their personal information be deleted and stop further collection by data companies. Americans expect and deserve privacy, and this bipartisan bill will allow them to finally take control over their personal information,” said Representative Edwards.
The DELETE Act would direct the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to create an online dashboard for Americans to submit a one-time data deletion request that would be sent to all data brokers registered. Under current law, individuals must request removal from each individual data broker to ensure their privacy is protected. This legislation would also create a ‘do not track list’ to protect taxpayers from future data collection.
Background
Cassidy has been a consistent champion of online privacy and protecting user data. Last month, he reintroduced the Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act 2.0 to protect our children’s privacy and demanded transparency from Amazon on their biometric data collection practices.
He also reintroduced the Protecting Military Service Members’ Data Act of 2023 to protect the data of U.S. service members by preventing data brokers from selling lists of military personnel to adversarial nations including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
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