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The Chronicle reports on the complicated birthing story of what would be the nation’s toughest consumer privacy law: High drama as privacy measure advances
The story, in a nutshell, is that California Senator Jackie Speier introduced strong pro-privacy legislation last year, but the bill was defeated in the wake of the Trade Center attacks by Democrats protecting business interests from “expected economic fallout.” Read it here: Landmark privacy bill killed in Assembly; Assembly kills consumer privacy bill
With some revision, Speier has re-introduced the bill, which would prohibit insurance companies and banks from selling or trading their customers’ private data without first getting permission from the customer. Read the full text of SB773. See also the less-jargony summary within this editorial: Restore the privacy bill
For a change, today’s news is good — as the Chron reports, Assemblyman Lou Papan’s attempts to eviscerate the bill earned him a public rebuke from Senate President Pro Tem John Burton and a private one from Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson. None of today’s articles give Papan an opportunity to explain his actions, so I’ll refrain from speculation as to his intentions. Still, I find it curious that Papan plans to leave office at the end of this month. Would I feel cheated if he went to work for one of the financial institutions that benefits from his gutting of this privacy bill? You bet I would. Let’s hope that does not happen.
Assuming the bill passes the Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing today, it will still have to win in a meeting of the full Assemibly — as near is I can make out. So I guess the best way to help ensure this bill passes is to contact your Assembly person and request support for SB773. You can find your California Assembly representatives via the ZIP-code search at leginfo.ca.gov.
