Silicon Valley Firms Want To Nix Calif. Internet Privacy Bill 110
An anonymous reader writes "Silicon Valley tech firms, banks and other powerful industries are mounting a quiet but forceful campaign to kill an Internet privacy bill that would give California consumers the right to know how their personal information is being used. A recent letter signed by 15 companies and trade groups — including TechAmerica, which represents Google, Facebook, Microsoft and other technology companies — demanded that the measure's author, Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, drop her bill. They complain it would open up businesses to an avalanche of requests from individuals as well as costly lawsuits."
Re:News or old hat? (Score:5, Informative)
Indeed. Europeans read these stories and think "Really? They don't have that right in the U.S. ??" I'm not intending to sound smug or sarcastic, but this is such a basic of EU legislation it seems bizarre that other developed countries are still struggling with this.
Re:What it's really about (Score:5, Informative)
If you look at the list of companies on the letterhead, you'll see that companies you pay(often quite significantly) for, are not signed on to your distinction.
FROM: California Chamber of Commerce
American Insurance Association
American International Group
Association of California Life and Health Insurance Companies
California Bankers Association
California Cable and Telecommunications Association
California Grocers Association
California Land Title Association
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
California Retailers Association
Direct Marketing Association
Internet Alliance
NetChoice
Personal Insurance Federation of California
State Privacy and Security Coalition, Inc.
TechAmerica
TechNet
R. L. Polk & Co.
Reed Elsevier, PLC
In fact, the conventional 'free as in adsense' crowd is remarkably absent(or, rather, hiding behind a few industry pressure groups with 'tech' somewhere in the name).
The list is heavily dominated by outfits who are either overt spammers(DMA, looking at you), data-broker creeps(Reed Elsevier), and companies with a strong actuarial interest in everything about you(the insurance and banking entities).
This has essentially nothing to do with ad-supported internet stuff.
Re:So... (Score:4, Informative)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_dilemma [wikipedia.org]
Re:So... (Score:4, Informative)
If you'd like to actually make a difference, email your state assemblymember (and senator when it comes up).
Find Your Rep: http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/ [ca.gov]
Find Their Email: http://clerk.assembly.ca.gov//clerk/memberinformation/memberdir_1.asp [ca.gov]
AB1291: The Right to Know Act
Dear Assemblymember,
I am writing you in support of retaining strong privacy safeguards in AB 1291: The Right to Know Act.
I am concerned that large data mining companies and their lobbyists are exerting significant influence over this legislation and individual consumers need strong defenders in our desire to control our own data. For all their protests of the expense of complying with this privacy law, these multinational corporations already have to follow much stricter EU privacy laws.
From the Mercury News: "Consumers who live in 27 countries that belong to the European Union already have the right to know what data companies have on them -- laws that are being complied by Facebook, Google and others that are opposing the California legislation." - http://www.mercurynews.com/politics-government/ci_23067322/silicon-valley-companies-quietly-try-kill-internet-privacy [mercurynews.com]
As mentioned by a former employee in the area: "As a former employee of a business that tracks a huge amount of personal information, I can tell you that most of these companies are already required to keep these records because of EU privacy records. Our databases were literally divided domestic and foreign for this reason.
So while it would take some effort in moving data and changing internal procedures, the bulk of the work is already done for most of these companies."
I hope you are one of us, someone who uses a credit card or spends time online, and want to know what data is being stored about us and how it is being used. Please support strong privacy legislation. Do not be swayed by big money lobbyists.
Thank you,
Me