Greetings from Portsmouth, New Hampshire!

There was a lot of moving and shaking on Capitol Hill this week. Over Thanksgiving break, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., floated a "Staff Discussion Draft" of the Consumer Data Privacy Act. That came on the heels of the Democrats' proposed bill, the Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act, led by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. After months of rumors that there would be a bipartisan bill, it finally looks like there's at least a starting point from which Democrats and Republicans can begin crafting comprehensive legislation. 

With two new bills, there was a lot of text to go through, but have no fear, IAPP Senior Westin Research Fellow Müge Fazlioglu dove right in and offered her detailed comparative analysis. There is quite a bit of agreement between both camps, but the real sticking points, unsurprisingly, will come down to pre-emption and private right of action. The Brookings Institution's Cameron Kerry is optimistic that "these proposals demonstrate that legislators are catching up and are engaged in a process of classic legislating that is rare in these times." Though, with an impeachment inquiry and a 2020 presidential election in full swing right now, it's hard to imagine anything getting done on Capitol Hill anytime soon. But you never know ...

The bills also came out just in time for Wednesday's full Senate Commerce Committee hearing on federal privacy legislation. Importantly, the five witnesses that day comprised an all-female cast of privacy rockstars: Microsoft's Julie Brill, 21st Century Privacy Coalition's Maureen Ohlhausen, Georgetown's Laura Moy, Walmart's Nuala O'Connor, and the Center for Democracy & Technology's Michelle Richardson. Luckily, another privacy rock star, the IAPP's Angelique Carson, was on hand to report on the hearing, so be sure to check out her report here. 

This was also a busy week here at IAPP headquarters as we hosted our first-ever CCPA Comprehensive Live Online event from our new studio. For two half-day events, we conducted a series of sessions with some of the top thinkers in the space to break down some of the gnarly aspects of the CCPA. Topics included the law's scope and definitions, advice on working with third parties and service providers (and figuring out the difference!), and operationalizing individual rights, as well as some test cases for the CCPA and adtech. If you tuned in, we'd love to hear your feedback. We hope to host more of these live events from IAPP HQ, so stay tuned!