Privacy Bill Passes Illinois Senate, May Soon Cover ISPs

The Illinois Senate passed “right-to-know” privacy legislation that would require commercial website operators collecting customer information to notify customers upon request by the customer. Senators voted 31-21, with seven not voting Thursday, to send SB-1502 to the House. “As the federal government continues to roll back regulations that would allow companies like Google and Facebook to sell and share your personal data, the need for state regulations has become absolutely vital,” sponsor state Sen. Michael Hastings (D) said in a news release Friday. “The price of surfing the web shouldn’t mean sacrificing your privacy and personal information.” As written, the bill doesn’t cover ISPs. “However, there is intent for this to be clarified in the House,” a Hastings spokeswoman emailed. “The House plans on amending the bill to exempt phone and cable companies.” In Minnesota, State Rep. Paul Thissen (D) introduced a bill Friday requiring Internet companies to reimburse individual consumers for the value of personal information they provide, starting in 2019. It would require the Public Utilities Commission to set the value. "Our economy is becoming increasingly dominated by a handful of incredibly powerful companies who make huge amounts of money trading on the personal information of Americans," Thissen said in a news release Friday. "It's time for Minnesotans to have ownership of their own personal information recognized and to share in the profits made off the sale of that information." The bill would apply to ISPs and website operators, Thissen emailed us. The state lawmaker is also the sponsor of an ISP privacy amendment to Minnesota’s omnibus jobs bill. A joint conference negotiating the omnibus dropped the privacy language, but Thissen said he still believes it could be added back. Proposed state ISP privacy rules are running into roadblocks in some of more than 10 jurisdictions seeking to challenge President Donald Trump and Congress for using the Congressional Review Act to kill FCC privacy rules (see 1705030041).