States stumble on internet privacy

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

After net-neutrality and privacy rules were repealed last year, states have had little success crafting regulations of their own.

This article originally appeared in Stateline, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts.

When President Donald Trump signed the repeal of Obama-era internet service provider privacy rules last year, states rushed in to craft privacy legislation of their own. But most of those 2017 and 2018 bills have floundered, done in by the same business and industry forces that opposed the federal rules.

The Obama-era rules were intended to restrict internet service providers from selling or disseminating users’ personal information without permission. But industry representatives said those rules were burdensome and would stifle innovation and curb growth. Trump agreed.

States lined up to step into the breach. About half the states filed bills this year or last to address some or all of the internet privacy rules that were scrapped with Trump’s signature. But few have passed so far, and the ones that have mostly address small pieces of the privacy pie rather than taking comprehensive action.

“At the federal level you have more of people pushing big idea initiatives that are broad,” said Chris Nolen, a Virginia attorney and lobbyist who follows internet privacy issues and blogs about the issue. “The states are more driven to solving an immediate problem instead of imposing across-the-board requirements or protections across topical areas.”

In the states, broad-based consumer bills on internet privacy and net neutrality (requiring all content to be treated equally by internet providers) failed or are still pending as legislative sessions wind down. And the legislation that did pass, in states such as Virginia and Oregon, was limited.

The U.S. Senate last week voted to reinstate the Obama-era net neutrality rules the Federal Communications Commission rolled back late last year, but the measure faces an uphill battle in the House, not to mention a possible veto by Trump.

California, for example, considered reinstating Obama-era rules requiring internet service providers to disclose to users what personal information they possess, and barring them from selling or disseminating that information without permission.

But the California Chamber of Commerce, representing internet providers and telecommunications companies, opposed the legislation. In a letter to lawmakers, the group said the bill “will create a cumbersome, uncertain, and vague regulation of internet providers in California.”

“This single-state approach is antithetical to the forward-looking policies that have made California a world leader in the Internet Age,” the letter stated. “California has so much at stake and cannot afford to get this wrong.”

The bill stalled.

“The problem is they are afraid of regulation,” said state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, chairwoman of the California Senate Judiciary Committee. “They make a ton of money from aggregating people’s information and selling it.”

True to California tradition, a group of consumer activists has mounted a campaign to get the issue on the California ballot. Backed by San Francisco housing financier Alastair Mactaggart, the group has raised $2.4 million so far. Opponents, led by the chamber and internet giants, have raised about $1 million, according to Ballotpedia, which tracks referenda and initiatives.

Facebook contributed $200,000 to opposing the initiative. But in mid-April, after CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress on Russian infiltration of his social media site, the company dropped its opposition to the ballot measure.

“We took this step in order to focus our efforts on supporting reasonable privacy measures in California,” Facebook officials said in a statement to California media.

Two states, Nevada this year and Minnesota in 2017, enacted laws requiring ISPs to keep customers’ information private, unless the customer gives permission to disclose the information, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks legislation. Minnesota’s goes further, requiring ISPs to get permission before disclosing internet sites visited by online subscribers.

Oregon enacted a law in April that takes a step toward net neutrality by prohibiting state governmental entities from contracting with ISPs that throttle content.

In Virginia, a number of bills on internet privacy failed, including one that would have limited governmental procurement of ISPs to those that met requirements for neutrality and privacy. A broader bill that encompassed net neutrality and set overall privacy standards also was defeated in committee.

Virginia Sen. Jennifer Wexton, a Democrat who is running for Congress, sponsored the internet privacy bills. At a committee hearing in January, she implored lawmakers to support her bill for privacy and net neutrality.

“We are limited with what we can do at the state level, but one thing we can do is decide not to purchase from ISPs who do not adhere to net neutrality principles,” she said. “It is a basic consumer protection bill. If you love freedom, and you love privacy, and I know you do, you should love this bill.”

But after a parade of internet service companies came to the microphone to oppose her, the committee rejected the bill.

“The bill was killed because too many legislators are more interested in protecting corporate ISPs’ profits than their own constituents’ internet freedom and data privacy,” Wexton said.  

“There was a long line of corporate lobbyists railing against the bill in my office and in committee, and no matching force speaking up for consumers.”

NEXT STORY: How Fit Is Your City?

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.