Privacy Protections Can Be Suspended

The NCA can suspend enforcement of data protection requirements for any operator when it determines this serves "the interest of the Republic"—an undefined standard providing minimal constraint on regulatory discretion. This creates a mechanism to circumvent the bill's privacy safeguards (subscriber verification, breach notification, biometric data protections) through regulatory forbearance. While decisions must be published and can be appealed, the provision enables selective exemption from privacy obligations for government-preferred entities, potentially facilitating surveillance or data access without the protections established elsewhere in the bill.