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As a cyber security analyst, I may have to nominate Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers as the 2024 Cybersecurity Defender of the Year. Over the last three weeks, this fearless, consumer-first Republican leader has used her power as chairwoman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to put the pedal to the metal on this critical, recurring privacy and security issue.
Tik Tok Ban
On March 7, she successfully pushed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act through the Energy & Commerce Committee by a unanimous vote of 50-0. The bill would require Byte Dance to sell its stake in Tik Tok, because of very real concerns that the Chinese Communist Party could demand access to Americans’ data collected on the app.
Following Rodgers' leadership through her committee, the House passed the bill by an overwhelming margin.
Ultimately, Chair Rodgers' efforts against Tik Tok and CCP data collection was recently included in the foreign assistance package that President Biden intends to sign into law. If not for Rodgers' relentless leadership, it is doubtful this would have ever happened.
Comprehensive Consumer Rights Bill
Then, on April 7, she introduced a discussion draft of the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA), arguably the most robust data privacy bill that a member of Congress has ever designed.
The legislation will create the very first federal privacy standard, turning a very simple concept into law — the concept that consumers should have complete ownership of the data they create online.
Today, Americans trying to navigate online life must confront impenetrable terms of service that, in the end, often allow companies to do whatever they want with the data they collect from people using their services.
From TikTok to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, it’s become abundantly clear that consumers’ current lack of digital privacy rights is extremely dangerous. It’s led to millions upon millions of Americans watching their personal information — including their addresses, search histories, and credit card and Social Security numbers.
Rep. Rodgers’ bill will limit companies to only collecting the data they need to collect to provide the services the American people request. Gone will be the days when consumers are either forced into accepting murky terms of service (or duped into consenting to misleading terms) that ultimately compromise their sensitive personal information and effectively allow tech giants to do whatever they want with their data.
In this modern-day digital age, this strong national privacy standard proposed by Rep. Rodgers is one of the most important bills ever introduced to stop today’s rampant cybersecurity breaches. Congress should consider her measure without delay.
Advancing AM Radio/Car Data Protection Legislation
Weeks later, Rep. Rodgers used her power as chair of the House Commerce Committee to advance consideration of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act that Sen. Cruz introduced with Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA). Moving this bill forward is critical for cybersecurity because the automakers’ unchecked data collection ambitions represent one of the nation’s most significant data collection and hacking threats out there today.
Carmakers want to remove AM radio because the entertainment mediums they want to replace it with will allow them to collect untold amounts of data on the American people. Even Facebook would blush at the sheer magnitude of the information these vehicle manufacturers could collect on us if they kick AM radio (which doesn’t collect any data on listeners) to the curb.
As Dr. Jianli Yang with the Citizens Power Initiative for China, a Chinese Communist Party watchdog organization, noted last summer, this data collection is especially problematic when considering that API attacks in the auto industry recently increased by nearly 400%. This startling statistic has caused U.S. attorneys to express extreme worry about how vulnerable automakers are to Chinese hackers.
Complicating matters further is how some car companies (like Volvo) are Chinese-owned and must follow China’s strict data-sharing laws with the CCP. In these cases, China might not only get the information our cars generate via hacking; it might be getting it handed to them on a silver platter.
So, yeah, Rep. Rodgers using her influence as a committee chairwoman to expedite debate on this bill (and eventually mark it up through the committee) is kind of a big deal.
Advancing Healthcare Privacy Measures
Two days after announcing the AM radio hearing, Rep. Rodgers announced that she will hold a May 1 hearing on the need for the private sector to better protect the American people’s sensitive healthcare data.
Of particular note is United Health’s Change Healthcare, one of the nation’s largest providers of health care payment management systems.
In late February, the company experienced a massive cyberattack on its platforms. It went so far as to say that the hackers in question stole health data on a “substantial proportion of people in America.”
As Rep. Rodgers put it, "Americans are still dealing with the fallout of the Change Healthcare hack” — especially because “individuals and smaller providers, in particular, have struggled financially following the cyberattack, threatening critical access for patients.”
Rep. Rodgers’ hearing will get to the bottom of “what happened in the lead up to, and in the weeks following, the attack” — giving her committee the context and information it will need to ensure every Americans’ healthcare privacy becomes protected.
More Members of Congress Should Follow Rep. Rodgers’ Lead
What Rep. Rodgers has done over the course of this month on the critical issues surrounding overall cybersecurity, personal data security, and protecting Americans from the likes of the Chinese Communist Party, is nothing short of astounding.
Few, if any, members of Congress have done so much to protect us in the cybersphere in such a short amount of time. The Washington Republican has secured rockstar status in my cybersecurity circles and then some — and we are looking forward to seeing her next move.
Julio Rivera is a business and political strategist, cybersecurity researcher, and a political commentator and columnist. His writing, which is focused on cybersecurity and politics, is regularly published by many of the most respected news organizations in the world. Read Julio Rivera's Reports — More Here.