Opinion: ‘Every breath you take, every move you make…’

This commentary is by Rep. Monique Priestley, D-Bradford. She serves on the House Committee on Commerce & Economic Development. Read the feature at VTDigger.

Of the 20 largest economies in the world, the U.S. is the only country that lacks a comprehensive framework establishing rights and protections for the collection, use, and sharing of data. In a time when everyone owns a computer, carries a smartphone, drives a connected car, and owns a variety of smart devices, every beat of your heart, movement you make, and conversation you have are valuable. Battles to protect your data are taking place at State and Federal levels. We need you to get involved by engaging your legislators.

Research shows that a majority of American adults incorrectly believe when a company has a privacy policy, it means that company cannot share personal data with other parties without their permission. I assure you, this belief couldn’t be further from the truth. If you are a Vermonter, there are currently no regulations in place to protect you and your loved ones. A recent study found that the Real-Time Bidding market, where companies exchange user browsing, location, and other data to drive targeted advertising, exposes the average American’s data 747 times per day. If you think you have managed to escape Big Data’s grasp, think again. One firm studied by the FTC reported having 3,000 data segments on nearly every U.S. consumer.

The House Committee on Commerce & Economic Development has been working on data privacy efforts for more than a decade. For the past two years, we have provided an open door, requesting businesses and interested parties to testify. We took testimony from those supporting and opposing the bill. We spent hundreds of hours of external conversations with attorneys general and legislators from across the country, privacy law professors, compliance lawyers, business owners, security consultants, privacy advocates, lobbyists, and concerned citizens. H.121 passed out of the committee with a vote of 11-0 and out of the House of Representatives with a unanimous roll call vote of 139-0. After a long House process dedicated to thorough due diligence, as soon as the bill was taken up in the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs, evidence of outside lobbying pressures attempting to weaken this consumer protection effort showed up in full force.

The State of Privacy reported, “Industry lobbying has profoundly shaped how states approach consumer privacy, and their efforts have been significant; an investigation by the Markup identified 445 active lobbyists and firms representing Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Google, Apple, and industry front groups in the 31 states that heard privacy bills in 2021 and 2022. Because of the opacity of state lobbying records, that number is likely an undercount.” How is this showing up in Vermont? Misleading information has been shared throughout the small business community in the form of association membership alerts, at least one lobbyist approached vendors at the Made in Vermont Marketplace, and unexamined opposition testimony has been presented in the Senate.

Misinformation campaigns claim businesses will be prevented from contacting existing customers, measuring and improving website performance, and collecting consumer data necessary to measure and improve advertising effectiveness. H.121 does not prevent any of these actions. It does give Vermonters the ability to join 15 other states in having more transparency and agency over their data. It contains important consumer rights (i.e. the ability for individuals to access, delete, and correct the information that businesses have about them); it provides consumers the ability to opt out of the use of personal data for targeted advertising, data sales, and significant automated profiling decisions; it adds affirmative opt-in consent requirements around the collection and processing of sensitive personal data (e.g. children’s data, fingerprints, DNA, voice prints, social security number, precise location); and it contains important business obligations (e.g. disclosure of how data will be used, securing personal data, conducting risk assessments, and limiting sharing of personal information with third parties).

As the uses of data, automation, and predictive analytics expand, where Vermonters’ personal information is bought and sold without explicit consent, it is crucial that we establish a set of rules that balance the needs of business with the protections of individuals. As legislators, it is our duty to champion the rights of individuals in the face of unchecked technological expansion and to secure a future where data privacy is not just a privilege, but a fundamental right. As passed out of the House, H.121 is a testament of our commitment to Vermonters that we value their privacy, security, and respect. In order to see these protections over the finish line, we need your help.