Wis. Senate Panel Mulls House-Approved Privacy Bill

Don’t let anyone say a Wisconsin privacy bill is moving too fast, state Rep. Shannon Zimmerman (R) said during a livestreamed hearing Tuesday. The Wisconsin Senate Consumer Protection Committee heard testimony on Zimmerman’s AB-466 and Senate companion SB-642 but didn’t vote. The Assembly last month unanimously passed AB-466, which would allow consumers to request and delete information that certain data controllers hold (see 2311150039). Versions of the bill appeared in three straight legislative sessions, said Zimmerman. “That’s six years of my life.” Zimmerman said he wants to avoid a state privacy law “tapestry.” Instead, the Republican hopes to push Congress to make a good federal law, he said. Wisconsin’s bill is similar to Virginia’s “pretty darn good” privacy law, he added. The main difference is that, in Wisconsin, consumer complaints wouldn’t go to the state AG, Zimmerman said. Instead, they would be handled by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, an existing state agency that seems more suited to the task, he said. The AG would remain the Wisconsin bill’s sole enforcer, however. BSA|The Software Alliance supported the bill during Tuesday's hearing. In the absence of Congress approving a national privacy bill, “and I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel anytime soon,” Wisconsin should be the 14th state with a privacy law, Head of State Advocacy Matthew Lenz said. The bill "imposes strong obligations on all companies that handle consumer data," while being "interoperable" with other states' laws, he said.