Fla. Senate Privacy Bill Advances; Minn. Kids' Bill Faces Uncertain Future

Businesses lined up against tech regulation bills at hearings Monday in Florida and Minnesota. Opposition failed to deter the Florida Senate Rules Committee from advancing comprehensive privacy bill to the Senate floor. But at a Minnesota Senate Judiciary Committee hearing earlier that day, multiple members suggested taking more time to study a kids’ privacy bill rather than pass it this year.

Rules Committee members unanimously supported the Florida privacy bill with an amendment. SB-262 is the third attempt in three years by Sen. Jennifer Bradley (R) to pass a privacy bill. It earlier got unanimous approval from the Senate Commerce Committee despite industry claiming it didn’t provide enough protection for consumers (see 2304040042).

National tech and advertising groups opposed the bill in a joint letter to the committee Friday. SB-262 “would fall short in providing consumers with meaningful privacy protections while also imposing overly burdensome requirements and penalties on businesses,” wrote the Association of National Advertisers, Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), NetChoice, the Software & Information Industry Association, TechNet and four other groups. The bill tries to restrict ad practices that reduce costs through automation and provide better targeting, which helps small businesses save money and keeps online services free for consumers, they said.

The bill is better with an amendment adopted Monday by the Rules Committee, said Associated Industry of Florida Vice President-Governmental Affairs Adam Basford at the hearing. The changes allow businesses to continue reaching consumers with targeted ads and puts the bill more in line with privacy laws in states other than California, he said. The group remains concerned with penalties that are up to 20-times more than other states and thinks the bill’s July 1 effective date is too soon.

Even amended, the bill remains bad for small businesses because it lets consumers opt out of their targeted ads, said some small-business owners including QRxLabs CEO Alexander Fedorowicz. They also urged senators to delay the effective date.

The amended bill doesn’t stop small businesses from using targeted ads but rather lets consumers who don’t want ads to opt out only for themselves, stressed Bradley: Currently, "Floridians lack even the most basic control over our information."

Industry-supported privacy bills passed Friday in Montana and Tennessee (see 2304210060) and earlier this year in Iowa and Indiana.

Minn. May Punt Kids’ Bill

Minnesota legislators haven’t decided what to do with a kids’ privacy proposal based on California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, said Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Ron Latz (D) at a livestreamed hearing Monday. The panel heard testimony but didn’t vote Monday on SF-2810, which was cleared last month by the Senate Commerce Committee. A similar House bill (HF-2257) is part of a Commerce omnibus bill, some members noted. A Democrat and two Republicans said they’d like to send the bill for further study by a legislative commission on data practices, which would delay the measure a year.

The bill could come back to Judiciary as a late bill, or it might be sent to the legislative commission to bring back next session, said Latz: The committee probably would have another hearing if there were to be a Senate floor vote. The chair raised concerns about the bill placing enforcement solely with the attorney general. That would mean that the level and direction of enforcement could be affected by who is AG, said Latz: "It could give an attorney general who wanted to the opportunity enforce this in manners which perhaps proponents aren't thinking of as the main targets of the bill.” Sponsor Sen. Erin Maye Quade (D) isn’t concerned because she doesn’t see protecting kids’ data as a partisan issue, she replied.

The bill has been “a long time coming,” but it might be good to have the legislative commission delve deeper, said Sen. Sandy Pappas (D). Later, Pappas clarified that she had been unaware that the House was moving the measure as part of an omnibus bill. “We should still be open” to a discussion about how to refine the measure “in conference committee" this year, she said.

Sen. Michael Kruen (R) supports kicking the bill to the commission for more definition, he said. While not opposed to the bill’s concept, SF-2810 “seems a little rushed to me,” said Kreun, noting litigation pending on California’s similar law. Sen. Warren Limmer (R) said he strongly recommends more study by the commission referenced by others. "I like the direction that this is going," but he needs more time to make good law, he said. Limmer added that he wants to get input on the bill from Minnesota-based privacy groups.

Don't wait for Congress to act, said Maye Quade: The state can follow a model that worked in the UK. Kids "have been hurt by the negative consequences of the internet for a long time, and we are quite honestly very far behind in providing the regulatory frameworks for pretty much anything on the internet, but particularly social media, and now we must act as lawmakers to put their interests ahead of corporate profits,” she said.

Unlike restrictive proposals in other states, like Montana trying to ban TikTok for everyone in the state (see 2304210024), SF-2810 "aims to get upstream to ensure that when something's being developed, it's safe for young people to use," said Maye Quade. Minnesota is one of several states considering age-appropriate design code bills (see 2303010062).

Companies would struggle to implement SF-2810, which makes requirements without any instructions for how to comply, said TechNet Midwest Executive Director Tyler Diers in written testimony. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) preempts the state bill, which would cover websites kids are likely to access rather than COPPA’s standard of sites directed to children, he said. Verifying ages would mean companies must collect more personal information from users, said Diers: At least wait to see what happens with the tech industry’s legal challenge to California’s age-appropriate design law.

The bill's onerous requirements “may lead to businesses taking steps to mitigate legal risk and aggressively block online content no matter the newsworthiness, appropriateness, or educational value of the information,” wrote Sara Klowek, SIIA vice president-education and children’s policy. Other opponents include CCIA, Entertainment Software Association and the Star Tribune, which seeks an exemption for newspapers.

The Minnesota bill has received support from ParentsTogether and the 5Rights Foundation, which advocated for age-appropriate design bills in the UK and across the states. “Children and teens are facing an unprecedented mental health crisis,” wrote 5Rights.