Privacy Advocates: Stop Weak R.I. Privacy Bill

Multiple consumer privacy advocates urged Rhode Island legislators to halt passage of weak privacy protections. The Senate voted 36-1 to pass the comprehensive bill (S-2500) on Wednesday. The “critical bill” is a “marriage” of Connecticut’s privacy law and the work of a Rhode Island commission, said sponsor Sen. Louis DiPalma (D) at the livestreamed floor session. The commission included five legislators, Attorney General Peter Neronha (D) and Verizon, TechNet and the New England Cable and Telecommunications Association. Sen. Samuel Bell (D) voted no. He said the bill was too weak during a committee meeting earlier this week. The House passed the similar H-7787 earlier. Consumer Reports, which signaled its opposition previously (see 2406110033), joined with the Electronic Privacy Information Center and Restore the Fourth in a Tuesday letter. The proposed comprehensive privacy law “would do little to protect Rhode Island consumers’ personal information, or to rein in major tech companies like Google and Facebook,” they wrote. “The bill needs to be substantially improved before it is enacted; otherwise, it would risk locking in industry-friendly provisions that avoid actual reform.” The groups suggested several changes, including adding data minimization rules and requiring that companies honor browser-based privacy signals as global opt-outs. Also, they said the bill's privacy notice rules should cover all data controllers, not just commercial websites and ISPs. Cut the proposed exemption for pseudonymous data and narrow another carveout for loyalty programs, they said. In addition, adding a private right of action will strengthen enforcement, the groups said.