{"id":15545,"date":"2019-06-11T10:10:06","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T18:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2019\/06\/11\/news-9294\/"},"modified":"2019-06-11T10:10:06","modified_gmt":"2019-06-11T18:10:06","slug":"news-9294","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2019\/06\/11\/news-9294\/","title":{"rendered":"Maine governor signs ISP privacy bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

Credit to Author: David Ruiz| Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2019 16:57:38 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n

Less than one week after Maine Governor Janet Mills received one of the nation\u2019s most privacy-protective state bills on her desk<\/a>, she signed it into law. The move makes Maine the latest US state to implement its own online privacy protections<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The law, which will go into effect July 1, 2020, blocks Internet service providers (ISPs) from selling, sharing, or granting third parties access to their customers\u2019 data unless explicitly given approval by those customers. With the changes, Maine residents now have an extra layer of protection for the emails, online chats, browser history, IP addresses, and geolocation data that is commonly collected and stored by companies like Verizon, Comcast, and Spectrum. <\/p>\n

In signing the bill, Governor Mills said the people of Maine \u201cvalue their privacy, online and off.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Internet is a powerful tool, and as it becomes increasingly intertwined with our lives, it is appropriate to take steps to protect the personal information and privacy of Maine people,\u201d said Governor Mills in a released statement<\/a>. \u201cWith this common-sense law, Maine people can access the Internet with the knowledge and comfort that their personal information cannot be bought or sold by their ISPs without their express approval.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill, titled \u201cAn Act to Protect the Privacy of Online Customer Information,\u201d was introduced earlier this year by its sponsor, Democratic state Senator Shenna Bellows. It passed through the Maine Legislature\u2019s Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Technology<\/a>, and gained approval both in the House of Representatives and the Senate soon after. Given until June 11 to sign the bill into law, Governor Mills moved quick, giving her signature on June 6. <\/p>\n

As Maine\u2019s lawmakers worked to review and slightly amend the bill (adding a start date to go into effect), it picked up notable supporters, including ACLU of Maine and GSI Inc., a local, small ISP in the state. In an opinion piece published in Bangor Daily News<\/a>, GSI\u2019s chief executive and chief operating officer voiced strong support for online privacy, saying that \u201cif people can\u2019t trust the Internet, then the value of the Internet is significantly lessened.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Maine State Chamber of Commerce opposed the bill, arguing that a new state standard could confuse Maine residents. The Chamber also said the bill was too weak because it did not extend its regulations to some of the Internet\u2019s most noteworthy privacy threats\u2014Silicon Valley companies, including Facebook and Google. <\/p>\n

The ACLU of Maine and the Maine State Chamber of Commerce did not return requests for comment about the Governor\u2019s signing. <\/p>\n

Sen. Bellows, in the same statement referenced above, commended Maine\u2019s forward action. <\/p>\n

\u201cMainers need to be able to trust that the private data they send online won\u2019t be sold or shared without their knowledge,\u201d Sen. Shenna said. \u201cThis law makes Maine first and best in the nation in protecting consumer privacy online.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Maine governor signs ISP privacy bill<\/a> appeared first on Malwarebytes Labs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/blog.malwarebytes.com\/feed\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Credit to Author: David Ruiz| Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2019 16:57:38 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Less than one week after Maine Governor Janet Mills received one of the nation\u2019s most privacy-protective state bills on her desk, she signed it into law. The move makes Maine the latest US state to implement its own online privacy protections. <\/p>\n

Categories: <\/p>\n