Lawmakers unite to protect internet privacy in Washington
Apr 5, 2017, 5:53 AM
President Trump recently signed a bill that strips away internet privacy protections for consumers. Now, internet providers can access and sell information ranging from users’ browsing history to the TV shows they watch. But in Washington state, a bi-partisan effort has quickly mounted to fight back against the federal action.
“I got an email last Thursday from a constituent saying, ‘Hey, did you hear that Congress is going to let internet service providers sell your private information, like your private browsing history? Is there anything we can do about that?’” said Representative Drew Hansen, a Democrat from Bainbridge Island representing the 23rd Legislative District.
It didn’t take long for a bill to develop. It turns out, privacy is something both sides of the aisle can get behind.
“By the end of the day Thursday, we had two Republicans who were really interested in it and had a draft bill,” Hansen said. “We just took off running. If Congress is too craven to protect our privacy, then in Washington state we are certainly going to do something about it.”
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“The first legislator I talked to is one of the most Conservative members of the House of Representatives, David Taylor,” Hansen recalled. “He said, ‘I’m all in. Let’s do it.’ Then we got with Representative Norma Smith from Whidbey Island, who has been working on privacy issues and also a Republican. And the three of us put together this bill, with our staff’s help.”
Hansen said the internet privacy bill has a chance of passing. He spent time talking with lawyers and former enforcement council with the FCC. He now feels that state lawmakers have the authority to set up this sort of consumer protection.
“Historically, the FCC has said its rules are a floor, rather than a ceiling,” Hansen said. “States can be more protective of consumer privacy than the FCC … I think we’re on the right track here.”
Internet privacy legislation
The bill has three main points:
• Transparency: Internet providers need to tell consumers how they plan to use their private information and what consumers’ rights are.
• Privacy: Consumers must give consent for internet providers to share or use their private information.
• Data breach: Internet providers must have protections against hacking and give notification if they are hacked.
“Think about it, your internet service provider has a huge trove of sensitive, personal data,” Hansen said. “What websites you visit, what apps you use, how much time you spend online. That is an irresistible target for hackers. We want to make sure (consumers) know about it if they get hacked.”
“I don’t think most people know quite how much information, about your internet usage, that most people would consider pretty private, and your internet service provider has access to,” he said. “They have total visibility into everything that you do on the internet using their connection … it’s not just what you type into a search engine, that the search engine might collect. What if you switch to a different search engine that doesn’t track you, Google can’t see you anymore, but CenturyLink can. They can see, for example, you are searching about whether you have depression. And they can use that information to market antidepressants to you. They can sell that information to others. That’s nuts. At the very least, consumers need to know that is happening and give consent for that to happen. They should not be able to just do it.”
The internet privacy bill was introduced this week. There are about 40 co-sponsors split between Democrats and Republicans, Hansen said. He said it is possible that more sponsors are likely to sign on in the future. It has yet to hit the committee process yet. And despite being proposed late in the session, Hansen said it is the kind of bill that will speed through the process.
“We’re optimistic that we will get it to the governor’s desk this year,” Hansen said.
