Minnesota Legislature pushes back on internet privacy

[steven36]

Days after the U.S. Congress voted to loosen online privacy regulations -- potentially allowing internet providers to sell customers' browsing data -- Minnesota lawmakers have pushed back with votes to tighten privacy protections within the state.

 

 

The Senate took up the issue late Wednesday, during a debate over a broader economic development budget bill. Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, offered a data privacy measure as an amendment that would prohibit internet providers in Minnesota from collecting personal information from customers without their permission. 

 

The amendment was nearly stopped, after a technical challenge from Sen. David Osmek, R-Mound. But all Senate DFLers and one Republican, Sen. Warren Limmer of Maple Grove, voted to let the proposal go to a vote. (In the Senate, Republicans hold a one-seat majority, so Limmer's vote was the deciding factor.) The Senate later voted 66-1 to add the privacy protections to the bill. 

The House also approved internet data protections in a vote earlier this week.

 

In a statement issued after the Senate vote, Latz said the amendment was "about standing up and saying that our online privacy rights are critically important." 

 

"It won't circumvent the federal government, but it will give Minnesotans a legal recourse to protect their privacy," he said.

 

By Erin Golden

http://www.startribune.com/minnesota-legislature-pushes-back-on-internet-privacy/417670943/

 

[Agent 86]

20 minutes ago, steven36 said:

In a statement issued after the Senate vote, Latz said the amendment was "about standing up and saying that our online privacy rights are critically important." 

 

"It won't circumvent the federal government, but it will give Minnesotans a legal recourse to protect their privacy," he said.

 

In other words it is a waste of time.

Too bad all the states dont stand with Minnesota, then maybe things would be different.

[steven36]

Since it never was a real law  just a repeal of the law that never went in effect. states are free to make state laws any way they fell . Just because it's legal to  do stuff in certain states dont make it legal in other states . This could cause other states to adopt such state laws of there own.

 

Just like its legal to sell booze on Sunday by federal law in some states it's still Illegal to buy it on Sunday and in some counties it's still Illegal to buy it at all . There are 3 branches of Government  Federal , State and Town/City  in the USA and laws vary a lot from place too place .But  its a state law that lets towns decide for themselves if they want too allow it or not.

 

List of dry communities by U.S. state

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dry_communities_by_U.S._state

 

[steven36]

Quote

 

NEW YORK — Now that Republicans are in charge, the federal government is poised to roll back regulations limiting access to consumers’ online data. States have other ideas.

 

As on climate change, immigration, and a host of other issues, some state legislatures may prove to be a counterweight to Washington by enacting new regulations to increase consumers’ privacy rights.

Illinois legislators are considering a “right to know” bill that would let consumers find out what information about them is collected by companies like Google and Facebook, and what kinds of businesses they share it with. Such a right, which European consumers already have, has been a longtime goal of privacy advocates.

 

Two other proposals face a crucial Illinois House committee vote this week. One would regulate when consumers’ locations can be tracked by smartphone applications, and another would limit the use of microphones in Internet-connected devices like mobile phones, smart TVs, and personal assistants like Amazon’s Echo.

 

Should they be passed into law, these rules could end up guiding the rights of consumers far beyond Illinois — because they would provide a model for other states, and because it would be difficult for technology companies with hundreds of millions of users to create a patchwork of state- and country-specific features to localize their effects.

Congress is pushing to overturn regulations imposed by the Federal Communications Commission under the Obama administration that limit the collection of data by broadband providers like AT&T and Comcast. The Senate approved the rollback last week, and the House is expected to follow this week.

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/03/26/push-for-internet-privacy-rules-moves-state-houses/0zYHuXhgOzOnBVQRiMu4QM/story.html