Grid: How Big Tech is quietly pushing for watered-down state privacy laws

Grid: How Big Tech is quietly pushing for watered-down state privacy laws

“I can generally say that there’s certainly the potential for influence from industry giving money to legislators,” said Yosef Getachew, director of the Media and Democracy Program at Common Cause. ... Getachew noted that the implications of privacy laws extend well past traditional technology companies. “A lot of the telecom companies have engaged in certain data practices that implicate them and privacy bills, and a lot of telecom companies are working businesses outside of the traditional telecom model,” said Getachew. “So for example, take Comcast — they provide a cable service, broadband service and mobile service. They are potentially using all those data points interchangeably to build profiles and learn more about the customer base.”

Tech companies spent the last decade keeping federal privacy regulators at bay, and now they’re turning to the states to do the same.

Rather than wait for state legislatures to act on consumer privacy, tech companies have been busy pushing bills through themselves, a preemptive move to head off tougher laws.

California passed the strongest privacy law in the United States in 2018, jolting the tech industry into action. Rather than waiting for states to copycat California, it backed a series of bills, each weaker than the last. Virginia, Colorado and most recently Utah have passed privacy legislation, and there are now bills under consideration in at least 22 states. …

The technology industry is following an age-old playbook when it comes to getting some of these bills across the line — band together in a benignly named organization and put people on the ground while wielding clout and influence. …

“I can generally say that there’s certainly the potential for influence from industry giving money to legislators,” said Yosef Getachew, director of the Media and Democracy Program at Common Cause. …

Getachew noted that the implications of privacy laws extend well past traditional technology companies.

“A lot of the telecom companies have engaged in certain data practices that implicate them and privacy bills, and a lot of telecom companies are working businesses outside of the traditional telecom model,” said Getachew. “So for example, take Comcast — they provide a cable service, broadband service and mobile service. They are potentially using all those data points interchangeably to build profiles and learn more about the customer base.”