White House, States Take Different Stances On Cybersecurity

Amid concerns that Republicans may back away from consumer privacy rights, many states are planning to pass regulations limiting access to consumers’ online data. Illinois lawmakers are considering a “right to know” bill that is similar to what European consumers already have. It would let citizens find out what information companies like Google and Facebook are collecting about them, and what businesses they share that data with. Another set of proposals facing votes in Illinois this week would regulate when consumers’ locations could be tracked by smartphone apps, and another would limit the use of microphones on internet-connected devices. Those moves could establish a precedent to guide many other states, the New York Times reports. Meanwhile, California and Connecticut recently updated laws that will restrict access to online communications like email, and Nebraska and West Virginia have limited how companies may monitor employees’ social media accounts. “More and more, states have taken the position that, if Congress is not willing or able to enact strong privacy laws, their legislatures will no longer sit on their hands,” Chad Marlow, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Times.