Greetings from Portsmouth, New Hampshire!

Fall has officially made its appearance here in New England. While the rest of the team was at P.S.R., we here at home were enjoying the last push of summer. The beaches were packed with sunbathers, the surfers were out in full force and the air conditioners were humming. This week, we’ve broken out the cozy sweaters, maybe turned the heat on to ward off the chilly nights and, not surprisingly to those who live in the area, the surfers were still out in full force despite the cold weather. While the IAPP crew may have brought cooler temperatures home with them, we’re OK with that as it’s nice to have everybody back in one place. It was quiet without them.

In privacy news this week, all signs point to Congress not passing a federal privacy bill before the end of the year according to sources close to negotiations. Lawmakers, tech companies and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joseph Simons have all called for Congress to pass a national law, sooner rather than later. The hope was a federal law would be in place before the California Consumer Privacy Act goes into effect Jan. 1 and that it would override the individual state laws — a point California lawmakers disagree with. Privacy lawyer Joseph Jerome offered his opinion in Privacy Perspectives this week on the inclusion of a private right of action in a federal law, saying that it does not have to be a "yes or no proposition," that a middle ground is possible.

Shortly after we received the news of the likelihood of no federal privacy bill this year, Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang released a new public policy that treats “data as a property right.” According to his policy, individuals should have the right to be informed as to what data is collected and used, the right to opt of data collections, and the right to be forgotten among other rights. The right to be forgotten is a key piece of the EU General Data Protection Regulation.

I’ll be keeping an eye on the outcome of the upcoming Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act workshop scheduled for Oct. 7. The FTC released the agenda and topics include the current state of children’s privacy, a look at definitions and misconceptions within the law, and they’re also going to explore the “increased use of devices, social media [and] educational technology.” I’m interested in this topic, not only for work, but also as a parent and how any changes will affect my kids. All three spend quite a bit of time online, mostly on their homework, but someone is always looking for gaming advice or playing games. A confession: I’m definitely not the cool mom with the number of restrictions I’ve given them for being online. I can live with that, though.   

Finally, in case you missed it, the editorial team recapped their week at P.S.R. on LinkedIn Live. You can catch a recap in the video below.

Have a great weekend!