“By failing to pass A.B. 375, the government confirmed that they put the profits of Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast over the privacy rights of their constituents,” the Electronic Frontier Foundation said yesterday.
The California law would have ordered ISPs to obtain customers’ approval before they use, share, or sell the consumers’ Web browsing and application usage archives. The information is valuable for serving personalized ads to Internet users. But the bill was delayed before reaching a final vote.
The bill would have significantly replicated federal laws that were formed by the Republican-controlled Congress and President Trump before they could be executed. The bill would have prevented ISPs from refusing to serve, or limiting service to, consumers who don’t opt into data sharing. The bill also would become prohibited ISPs from charging consumers more if they refuse to waive their privacy rights.
“But notwithstanding the appeal of resisting Trump a popular topic for lawmakers the bill never saw action,” NewsThe Mercury News reported.
The California government is controlled by Democrats, who usually support the opt-in privacy terms. But the legislature “kowtowed to an activist lobbying campaign, from telecommunications corporations and Internet companies, which added spurious claims and false social media announcements about cybersecurity,” the News said.
Internet providers, advertisers, and tech organizations had urged California state senators to vote upon the proposed law earlier this week.
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