Senator Michael Hastings is a
famous senator of Illinois State who always works on social issues and doing
best things for the welfare of people living in Illinois State.
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| Senator Michael Hastings |
Democratic lawmakers in Illinois
are considering implementing their own internet safeguards at the state level
after Republicans in Washington voted to roll back Obama-era internet privacy
protections that were to take effect later this year.
An Illinois House committee on
Thursday endorsed two online privacy measures, including one that would allow
people to find out what information companies such as Google and Facebook have
collected on them and which third parties they share it with. California
enacted a similar measure in 2005.
Privacy advocates say such state
protections are needed, particularly given what's happening in Washington,
where the Republican-controlled Congress voted to block broadband privacy
regulations issued during the end of the Obama administration. President Donald
Trump has indicated he will sign the measure.
Those regulations placed
restrictions on what companies such as Comcast and Verizon can do with
information including user search histories, not websites. But privacy
advocates say the move sends a clear signal that it's up to individual states
to step up.
"People are looking to us
now to provide protections for consumers," state Rep. Arthur Turner, a
Chicago Democrat who proposed the "right to know" bill, said during
Thursday's hearing.
The tech industry is largely
against the proposed requirements, saying they would burden companies with an
unnecessary layer of regulation and compliance costs, and that they'd stifle
innovation.
Tyler Diers, a spokesman for the
Illinois Chamber of Commerce, said the proposal treats basic information such
as names, addresses and phone numbers as "highly sensitive,"
extending requirements beyond corporate tech giants to other businesses like
restaurants that offer online ordering services.
Carl Szabo, senior policy counsel
at the online business trade group NetChoice, testified at the House hearing
that consumer privacy is already protected under laws such as Illinois' 2008
Biometric Information Privacy Act and existing federal law requiring privacy
policies.
"This is not a zero-sum game
of privacy," Szabo said.
Supporters dismiss the argument
that such protections would be burdensome, pointing out that similar
requirements in the European Union and California have not stifled business.
They also point to the
overwhelming support the proposal has garnered. The committee received notices
from more than 1,000 people and organizations in support of the House bill -
largely from private individuals. Only 32 were submitted in opposition.
State Senator Michael Hastings, a
Tinley Park Democrat who sponsored a corresponding Senate measure awaiting a
vote on that chamber's floor, said lobbyists representing corporate giants
including Apple, Amazon and Microsoft have visited his office to discuss the
bill and their usage of user data.
"It may be good for the
Apples, the Amazons of the world, but it's not good for people," SenatorMichael Hastings said.
Ed Yohnka, a spokesman for the
American Civil Liberties Union's Illinois chapter, told The Associated Press
that legislation like this is necessary to address the now
"razor-thin" division between government and private entities, which
can sell data to federal agencies.
"This is a new age and
privacy really means a completely different thing," Yohnka said.
The other internet privacy bill
OK'd by the committee would require mobile applications that track user
locations to get permission first and outline how that data will be used.
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