Kids privacy and child safety online have been hot-button issues on both sides of the aisle and will remain so in 2026, said privacy lawyers in interviews with Privacy Daily. Despite the bipartisan focus and federal bills pending on these issues, several of the lawyers were doubtful about passage of a national law next year.
The House Commerce Committee plans to take “action” on comprehensive privacy legislation after considering kid bills this spring, a committee staffer said in a statement Friday.
There’s a lot of “basic” work companies can do to update front-facing websites and apps and avoid unnecessary attention from federal and state regulators in 2026, former FTC officials said Wednesday during a Red Clover Advisors webinar.
Possible federal preemption of state laws and concerns about whether the FTC has the bandwidth to enforce new kids’ privacy and safety measures came up frequently during a hearing Tuesday of the House Commerce Committee subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade. The session was meant to discuss nearly 20 kids’ privacy and safety bills (see 2511250080).
Privacy and AI-focused state lawmakers will meet with congressional offices next week to discuss legislative priorities, Virginia Del. Michelle Lopes Maldonado (D) told us in an interview Friday. For 2026, she expressed interest in updating Virginia’s comprehensive privacy law and regulating AI chatbots with Democrats now in full control of the legislative and executive branches after Tuesday's election.
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CHICAGO -- Work in the House on a national privacy bill has continued even during the government shutdown, Venable’s Michael Signorelli said during a panel Tuesday at the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) ad law conference. But with a year to go until the 2026 midterm elections, timing could be a problem, the privacy and advertising attorney said. “The calendar is no one’s friend right now.”
The Trump administration’s creation of large government databases consolidating the sensitive personal information of millions of Americans in an attempt to purge voter rolls is unlawful, according to a class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), League of Women Voters and others.
While there are state and federal protections for sensitive data, a comprehensive privacy framework at the federal level is needed to ensure all modes of data sharing are transparent, legal and regulated, panelists said Wednesday. They spoke during a Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) webinar about the federal government’s recent attempts to access state data.
Several House members are working on proposals to preempt state AI laws with targeted federal regulations, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., said Tuesday.