Although legislators in Maryland are considering two bills to protect the privacy of Internet users, veteran lawmakers and political observes say they believe the only measure having a chance of passage is the one pending in the General Assembly.
After last week’s hearing on the Information Technology and Consumer Privacy Protection Act (HB-14), there was a clear indication from Delegate Michael Busch, Economic Matters Committee chairman, that after some minor revisions, its changes of passage were greater than a similar, but less stringent bill pending in the Senate.
While lobbyists for bankers, retailers, health insurers, telecommunications and computer software companies at that hearing called on lawmakers to eliminate the privacy protections of the bill, members of the public, led by Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, testified in support of the bill saying that “consumers should be in control of their own personal information.”
Internet operators and merchants would be prohibited from collecting, maintaining, selling, or distributing the personally identifiable information of Marylanders without their express permission under the House bill sponsored by Delegate Anthony Brown.
Such information would include names, addresses, telephone numbers, E-mail addresses and Social Security Numbers in addition to credit, checking and savings account numbers, buying habits and Internet browsing patterns.
Besides requiring Internet operators and merchants to obtain permission to collect, use, or sell a person’s identifiable information, the law would require them to provide consumers with a way of reversing that permission at any time they wish.
Also it authorizes the attorney general to create a special Online Consumer Advocacy Unit in the Consumer Protection division, and a special 19-member task force review and make recommendations on how existing state privacy laws can be improved.
The less stringent Senate measure, the Maryland Internet Privacy Act (SB-219), sponsored by Senator Timothy Ferguson, would expressly prohibit Internet operators and merchants “from collecting, using, or disclosing the personal information about a customer for advertising, marketing, or research purposes without permission.”
Internet operators and merchants would be required to tell users of their services and Web site visitors if any information about them is being collected, how it will be used and if it will be disclosed to third parties.
The measure would also authorize the attorney general’s consumer affairs division to develop implementing rules and regulations.
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