Privacy Experts Skeptical of Proposed Data Protection Agency

A new federal bureaucracy, the Data Protection Agency (DPA), has been proposed to completely revamp how the U.S. government regulates data collection and misuse by big tech companies. However, while privacy experts call the agency a “good first step,” they remain skeptical about how effective it would be once enforced. Currently, the responsibility of privacy regulation is divvied between several various agencies, including the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ). The new agency, introduced by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), would streamline data regulation efforts under one group, billed with enforcing data privacy and penalizing improper data collection or use.