Online privacy protections are gaining traction with the tech industry.

Congressional leaders are negotiating on stalled consumer-privacy legislation, raising the prospect that a bipartisan bill could become reality after years of false starts, reported The Wall Street Journal (April 26).

Congress is under pressure following recent disclosures of content potentially harmful to young people on social media sites such as Instagram and TikTok, while tech companies themselves are starting to push for a federal privacy standard after years of resisting privacy legislation.

Democratic and Republication leaders are seeking to put guard rails on tech giants’ collection, storage, and use of consumers’ personal information, according to people familiar with the matter.

Under versions being considered, consumers would be able to access their personal information with the option to make or change deletions, or move the data to a different online platform.

However, there are still policy hurdles in place and, if an agreement isn’t reached within weeks, the effort could fall apart.

Google Play Launches Privacy Labels

Google Play recently revealed it was introducing its own privacy “nutrition labels,” for apps following a similar effort by Apple, reported TechCrunch (April 26).

The company says it will begin to roll out the new Google Play Data safety section to users on a gradual basis, ahead of the July 20^th deadline that requires developers to properly disclose the data their app collects, if and how it is shared with third parties, the app’s security practices, and more.

The Google Play Data safety section will specifically detail:

• Whether the developer is collecting data and for what purpose.
• Whether the developer is sharing data with third parties.
• The app’s security practices, such as encryption of data in transit and whether users can ask for data to be deleted.
• Whether a qualifying app has committed to following Google Play’s Families Policy
• Whether the developer has validated their security practices against a global security standard

California Moves Towards Tougher Rules for Children

Meanwhile, California lawmakers will debate a law meant to require internet companies to design programs and apps for kids in order to protect their privacy, reported Axios (April. 19).

The California proposal resembles rules passed in the UK last year that govern how tech firms can target kids with push notifications, messaging controls and other features.

If the bill passes in California, it is anticipated that many other states are likely to adopt similar measures.