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Silicon Valley Firms Want To Nix Calif. Internet Privacy Bill

Posted by timothy on from the what-would-the-consequences-be dept.

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."

2 of 110 comments (clear)

  1. Re:News or old hat? by gsslay · · 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.

  2. Re:What it's really about by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · 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.