Cybersecurity Policy Report, State AGs Urge Rejection of SECURE Data Act, (Jun 4, 2026)

By Lynn Stanton

Seventeen state attorneys general and Hawaii’s Office of Consumer Protection have urged Senate and House leadership to reject the Securing and Establishing Consumer Uniform Rights and Enforcement over (SECURE) Data Act (HR 8413), which is modeled on state-level comprehensive privacy laws but would preempt those laws in the states where they’ve been enacted (CPR, April 22).

“A robust federal data privacy law is one that maximizes protections for consumers by setting a floor, not a ceiling, to allow states to continue to innovate and quickly adapt to the ever-evolving technology industry,” the state AGs said in a letter led by California AG Rob Bonta (D.) and addressed to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.), Senate Judiciary Committee privacy, technology and the law subcommittee Chair Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.), Senate privacy subcommittee member Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R., Ky.), and House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone Jr. (D., N.J.).

“Preemption leaves the data privacy field frozen in time until Congress chooses to amend and update the law. Given the pace of technological advances, the Act’s protections, minimal as they are, could quickly be rendered obsolete,” the AGs said.

“The Act does not require businesses to honor opt-out preference signals, an existing technology already mandated by twelve states and that has been widely adopted by industry,” they added.

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