United States of America: Introduction Social Media Privacy Protection and Consumer Rights Act of 2021

Senators Burr, Klobuchar, Kennedy and Manchin introduced the Social Media Privacy Protection and Consumer Rights Act of 2021 (S.1667) in the US Senate. According to their press release, the bill aims to strengthen the data rights for users of social media. The law requires online platform operators to notify users, prior to registering an account or otherwise utilising the platform, that the operator and third parties would collect and process the user's personal data generated during online behavior. The operator must give a user the choice to set privacy preferences, and the operator may refuse a user access to particular services or entire access if the user's privacy preferences cause platform incompatibility. The operator shall (1) provide a user with a free and electronic copy of the user's personal data that the operator has processed; and (2) inform a user within 72 hours of becoming aware that the user's data has been sent in violation of the security platform. Under the Federal Trade Commission Conduct, a breach of the bill's privacy provisions will be deemed an unfair or misleading act or practice and the state may bring a civil action in federal court regarding such violations. A bill of the same title and sponsors lay before the 116th Congress (S. 189).