On August 7, 2024, the Utah Salt Lake City Chapter of the JRCLS hosted a webinar discussing data privacy law impacting the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the “Church”). Data privacy legal experts Lothar Determann and Lance Walker discussed how the pending American Privacy Rights Act (“APRA”) would affect the Church. Determan is a Professor at Hastings College of Law at Berkley and an attorney at Baker and McKenzie. Walker has worked extensively on Capital Hill and works in Washington DC with the public affairs department for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Determann started the webinar with an overview of the evolving face of American data privacy law. Comparing the United States to the European Union, Determann explained how the global landscape differs in how data is treated as well. The European Union has the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), a comprehensive law that protects personal data and gives individuals control over their data. In the EU, the GDPR applies to any organization collecting data and failing to follow applicable data privacy law leads to fines and lawsuits. Using the EU model is difficult in the United States because of Constitutional concerns about how data privacy law interplays with the First Amendment
During the presentation, Determann and Walker addressed the APRA and the potential changes to the data privacy world based on the legislation, noting Congress’s intention to create a uniform law with robust enforcement mechanisms. Accordingly, the new legislation would create a uniform national data privacy rights law and eliminate the existing patchwork of state data privacy laws.
Determann also dissected the new APRA legislation during the webinar, and both Walker and Determann shared their opinions that it is possible to create a comprehensive data privacy law and still protect the data interests of the Church.