S. 2968: Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act

116th Congress · introduced 2019-12-03 · Commerce · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2019-12-03 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act

Plain summary

Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act This bill places requirements on entities that process or transfer a consumer's data. Specifically, the bill requires such entities to make their privacy policy publicly available and provide an individual with access to their personal data; delete or correct, upon request, information in an individual's data; export, upon request, an individual's data in a human-readable and machine-readable format; establish data security practices to protect the confidentiality and accessibility of consumer data; and designate a privacy officer and a data security officer to implement and conduct privacy and data security programs and risk assessments. Further, the bill prohibits such entities from engaging in deceptive or harmful data practices; transferring an individual's data to a third party if the individual objects; processing or transferring an individual's sensitive data without affirmative express consent; processing or transferring data beyond what is reasonably necessary or for which they have obtained affirmative express consent; processing or transferring data on the basis of specified protected characteristics (e.g., race, religion, or gender); conditioning the provision of a service or product on an individual's agreement to waive their privacy rights; and retaliating against an employee who provides information about a potential violation of the bill's provisions, or who testifies or assists in an investigation or judicial proceeding concerning such a violation. The Federal Trade Commission must establish a new bureau to assist with enforcement of these provisions.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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The strongest published arguments

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA] · 3 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Brian Schatz (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Edward J. Markey (D-MA)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA] reported raising $985,139 (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (2)

Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Securities: Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-116s2968.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/116/s>

Record fed-us-cong116-s2968 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong116 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong116