Social issues such as jobs, healthcare and education take priority for citizens over privacy issues, the public’s concern for digital privacy has grown and looms large. In the absence of Congressional action in favor of consumer privacy, state legislators have begun to take matters into their own hands.
The New York Times’ Somini Sengupta reports that in 2013 alone more than 10 states passed over two dozen state privacy laws. Sengupta quotes John Pezold from Georgia’s House of Representatives: ‘”’[C]onsumers [are] becoming increasingly wary that their lives are going to be no longer their own… We have got to protect that.”’
Ten years ago, California led the field by passing a security breach notification law, and today nearly every state has similar legislation on their books. Ahead of the pack with 3 laws passed this year, California continues to raise the bar. Nationally, state privacy laws which have been passed this year address a variety of topics ranging from the illegalization of posting nude photos without the subject’s consent (California) to requiring law enforcement to procure a warrant to look at emails (Texas).
Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Hanni Fakhoury asks if Congress will follow the states’ leads, suggesting that pressure is on for Congress to introduce privacy legislation. Though some attempts have percolated in Congress to protect consumer privacy at the federal level, including Obama’s proposed consumer privacy bill of rights and Do-Not-Track, these efforts have gained little traction.
The New York Times Editorial Board opined last month that industry lobbyists from tech and marketing have thwarted Congressional action and in doing so have invited the influx of state legislation. Ultimately, according to the Times, this creates a patchwork that will be even more challenging to businesses as they face confusing and sometimes-conflicting compliance obligations with different laws for different states.
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