Sen Hatch moves to swiftly pass key privacy bill

Sen Orrin Hatch (R-UT) has moved to speed passage of a key privacy bill that is linked to several transatlantic data sharing agreements. The so-called Judicial Redress Act would give European Union citizens the right to challenge misuse of their personal data in a US court, a right US citizens already enjoy in Europe. “Our legislation rights an inequity — a reciprocal benefit that has been withheld from our European allies with little justification,” Sen Hatch said.
“It is the right and fair thing to do,” he added.

Feb 1, Sen Hatch moved to hotline the bill, meaning it could bypass normal floor procedure and pass swiftly if no senator objects. The bill's approval is required to finalized an “umbrella agreement” between the US and EU that would allow the two sides to exchange more data during criminal and terrorism investigations. Sen Hatch called the measure “the catalyst to finalizing the long-awaited data-protection deal.” The House has already passed its companion legislation, and the Senate Judiciary Committee recently approved the upper chamber's measure. In recent weeks, the Judicial Redress Act was also drawn into the tense negotiations over another transatlantic data sharing agreement, the so-called Safe Harbor pact, which was invalidated last fall. Sen Hatch’s move to hotline his bill came hours before US and EU officials revealed they had struck a deal to resurrect the legal framework that Facebook, Google and thousands of other American companies had used for nearly 15 years.