California Is 20th State to See Attempt to Rebuke Trump on ISP Privacy

A California legislator unveiled an ISP privacy bill rebuking President Donald Trump’s repeal of the FCC broadband privacy rules. The bill by Assembly Privacy Committee Chairman Ed Chau (D) would require ISPs to get opt-in consent from consumers to use, disclose, sell or permit access to customer personal information, Chau’s office said. AB-375 -- to be amended Tuesday with the privacy language -- also would require clear and conspicuous consent disclosures, would ban providers from “pay-for-privacy” arrangements or penalizing customers for not consenting, and would require ISPs to protect customer information through reasonable security measures. It doesn’t set up a private right to action, but the state attorney general could enforce the bill. “Congress and the Administration went against the will of the vast majority of Americans when they revoked the FCC’s own privacy rules in April, but California is going to restore what Washington stripped away,” Chau said in a Monday news release. The bill could be heard by a committee in mid-July, a spokesman said on a news-media call Monday. Consumer and privacy advocates including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation supported the proposal. It's the latest of many states considering ISP privacy legislation to fill the void left by the Congressional Review Act repeal of privacy rules, though bills so far have struggled to cross the finish line (see 1705300052). Two in five states have bills responding to the federal repeal, said a National Conference of State Legislatures report updated Monday. On Monday’s journalist call, EFF Legal Counsel Ernesto Falcon predicted more progress across the states in months. “This is state number 20,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to get to state number 50 by the beginning of next year.” Passing a law in California could have “huge impact,” and EFF is bracing for “ferocious” opposition from telecom and cable lobbyists because ISPs fear that “if they lose any one state, they’re going to lose every state,” Falcon said. “When a large state like California takes the lead … voters in other parts of the country grow envious.” Falcon doesn’t believe federal pre-emption of the state bills is likely due to separations rules and a history of failed FCC attempts to pre-empt states, he said.