5/7/2023 0 Comments Herald standardMills signed it.Īnd despite the “army of industry lawyers” who challenged the law in court, people’s rights won out. Despite heavy lobbying and warnings of litigation during the legislative session, legislators passed the bill with strong bipartisan support, and Gov. Maybe it was the hundreds of millions of dollars those companies spend in lobbying and political donations.Īt any rate, all that money and power didn’t matter when it came to fighting Maine’s law. Instead, it gutted the entire law, and left all of us vulnerable to the predatory practices of companies with a lot of power and very little accountability. But everyone online has to use an internet service provider, and they often don’t have many options.Īnd Congress could’ve passed a law that included all companies who collect data online, not just internet service providers. ![]() Of course, no one is forced to use Facebook. It was the latter point that telecom companies and their friends in Congress used to keep your information under their control in 2017, when Republicans repealed an Obama-era rule that mirrored Maine’s law. Through the law, they regain control of their own information: which websites they visit what they search for what they bought, and where they eat, bank and receive health care, among other bits of data very valuable to companies looking to sell you stuff.īut it obviously hurts telecom companies, which lose a potential source of income.Īnd it puts them at a disadvantage against non-service provider internet companies, such as Google and Facebook, which are not covered by the law and thus can still mine your data. Typically, internet service providers and other companies that gather data from internet users force users to expressly opt out – if they can find where to do so. It creates an opt-in standard, meaning a user has to check a box in order to allow their information to be used. It stops internet service providers such as Comcast and Verizon from using, disclosing, selling or providing access to customers’ personal information without permission. ![]() The law, passed in 2019, went into effect in 2020. 2, as the “army of industry lawyers organized against us,” as Attorney General Aaron Frey noted, decided they couldn’t win the case. Trade groups representing the telecom giants dropped their lawsuit against the state Sept.
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