Wash. Privacy Bill Fails Again; Issue 'Not Going Away,' Vows Supporter
Washington state’s comprehensive privacy bill is dead for the third straight year. Unable again to overcome disagreement over enforcement and other issues, lawmakers ended the 2021 session Sunday without voting on the Senate-passed SB-5062. Meanwhile, the Florida Senate is poised to pass a privacy bill this week, but differences would need to be reconciled with an earlier-approved House version.
“The issue is not going away,” said Senate Technology Committee Chairman Reuven Carlyle (D) in a Monday interview. The SB-5062 sponsor said he will try again on privacy next year. “I am beyond thrilled that the central elements and the framework of the Washington Privacy Act is showing up in meaningful state privacy legislation across the country,” including in Virginia, Florida and New York, he said. “Of course, I’m disappointed that after three years of 48-1 votes in the Senate, the House remains fiercely opposed to any kind of meaningful compromise.”
The bill lacked enough support to pass the House even after House Judiciary Committee Chairman Drew Hansen (D) offered to remove a one-year sunset on companies' right to cure. That compromise was “not my preferred policy option,” but “we were willing to entertain taking off the sunset in an attempt to reach agreement, which still would have had the support of Consumer Reports, Common Sense Media and the Privacy Clearinghouse,” Hansen told us Monday. “We did feel that it was important for consumers to be able to enforce these rights directly, so we would have retained a private right of action” with remedies limited to injunction and attorney fee recovery.
The American Civil Liberties Union hopes to work with legislators on a stronger bill next year, said Jennifer Lee, ACLU-Washington technology and liberty project manager: ACLU opposed SB-5062 because it “would have legitimized a status quo that protects big tech companies, and not people.”
The ACLU “simply can’t stomach the idea of a Democratic-leaning state passing legislation that in any way, shape or form allows industry to function,” Carlyle said. “At the end of the day, the people of Washington have no rights, no protections, no guardrails, no rules, no ability to access, correct or opt out.”
The Washington privacy bill’s failure "shows there are some fundamental disagreements about what makes a good privacy law, and that there is deep skepticism that tech companies can police themselves,” said Common Sense Director-State Advocacy Joseph Jerome in a statement. “Washington is a missed opportunity ... and we hope lawmakers take the right lessons from this fight and avoid racing to pass even weaker proposals in the name of getting something done.” Consumer Reports urges “legislators in other states to advance privacy legislation that puts consumers first,” said Senior Policy Analyst Maureen Mahoney.
The Florida Senate is expected to pass its privacy bill (SB-1714) Tuesday or Wednesday, an aide for Rep. Fiona McFarland (R) said Monday. McFarland wrote another version (HB-969) that passed the House last week (see 2104220062). One big difference is that the House bill includes a private right of action. “The bill will bounce back and forth until a version is agreed on,” the aide said.
Florida privacy bills “have missed the mark, and will negatively impact local businesses with needless additional expenses for measures that fail to deliver meaningful privacy protections to consumers,” the Internet Association blogged Friday. The group complained that legislators didn’t sufficiently involve businesses in the bills’ drafting. IA declined to comment now on Washington's bill. Microsoft didn’t comment. Both supported SB-5062 when it passed the Senate but not after the House made changes.