By Bob Katzen
Senate 40-0, approved and sent to the House legislation that guards personal privacy and provides data protection for Massachusetts residents. The bill establishes clear rights regarding residents’ personal data, including the right to know what information is being collected and the ability to opt out of having their data used for targeted advertising or being sold to other companies.
Protected data includes health care information; face scans and fingerprints; precise geolocation; information about a person’s religion or ethnicity; information related to a person’s immigration status; and information pertaining to a child.
Specific provisions include giving people the right to know if their personal data is being collected, allowing them to see what data was collected and allowing them to find out with whom their data has been shared; giving people control over their personal data through new guaranteed rights to correct inaccurate data, delete personal information and opt out of having their personal data sold to others; giving the Office of the Attorney General broad regulatory authority to enforce the provisions of the bill; and constraining companies’ unfettered collection of personal data by limiting them to only collecting what is reasonably necessary in order to provide their product or service.
Other provisions include prohibiting all entities from selling minors’ personal data; blocking targeted ads for minors; and prohibiting companies from collecting or processing a child’s personal information for the purposes of targeting ads.
“I am thrilled that the Senate has passed the Massachusetts Data Privacy Act,” said Senate Majority Leader Cindy Creem (D-Newton), a sponsor of an earlier version of the bill. “This bill positions Massachusetts to have among the strongest data privacy laws in the country and makes it clear that our personal data can no longer be profited from without transparency and accountability to Massachusetts consumers.”
“Big tech companies make billions of dollars selling your personal data without giving you any say in what information they collect or how they use it,” said Sen. Mike Moore (D-Millbury), Senate Chair of the Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity. “No one should profit off of anyone’s personal data. The Massachusetts Data Privacy Act returns the power of choice back to the people because your data belongs to you.”
“Massachusetts urgently needs strong privacy laws to prohibit companies from collecting or manipulating our personal information in ways that threaten our safety, discriminate against us or otherwise threaten our most essential rights,” said Carol Rose, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. “Protecting privacy is more urgent today than ever before, as the Trump administration unleashes attack after attack on the rule of law and our most cherished freedoms. We look forward to working with leaders in the House to pass these critical democratic protections in their strongest possible form.”
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill.)
Sen. Patricia Jehlen Yes