The editorial board of the Washington Post writes:
Congress out of excuses for its inability to pass a privacy law years ago. Now, some of its members are promising they’ll finally do their jobs — just give them another year and a half.
The quest for federal rules to govern companies that deal in citizens’ personal information has delivered nothing but disappointments. Nonetheless, a commitment last week by key legislators to get comprehensive regulations on the books by the end of 2022, even if doing so requires some compromise, is promising. Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Gus M. Bilirakis (R-Fla.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), all chairs or ranking members of relevant subcommittees in their chambers, agreed in a public event on Wednesday that it’s past time to overcome the pesky points of impasse that have doomed past proposals. Key industry and consumer groups made the same pledge.