New US House privacy bills raise hard questions about enterprise data collection

US House Republicans introduced two privacy bills (SECURE Data Act and GUARD Financial Data Act) that would create national privacy standards but weaken enforcement by eliminating private lawsuits and overriding stronger state privacy laws like California's. Privacy advocates criticize the bills as inadequate because their data minimization rules (the principle that companies should collect only necessary data and retain it only as long as needed) tie collection limits to what companies voluntarily disclose rather than imposing stricter necessity requirements.