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Data privacy bill wins final approval in Connecticut House

Rep. Michael D'Agostino outlining a privacy bill with broad and bipartisan support.
CT-N
Rep. Michael D'Agostino outlining a privacy bill with broad and bipartisan support.

The House of Representatives voted 144-5 Thursday for final passage of a data privacy bill that will put Connecticut in the growing ranks of states trying to fill a void created by congressional inaction.

The measure cleared the Senate on a unanimous vote last week, a seemingly easy approval that came after nearly two years of intense negotiations with local and national business interests and consumer protection advocates.

Senate Bill 6 will let consumers see which companies are collecting their data and opt out of sales or sharing of that information. Consumers under 16 would have to opt in to data collection.

“The data you can purchase is shocking,” said Rep. Michael D’Agostino, D-Hamden, the co-chair of the General Law Committee and lead sponsor in the House.

The bill is a recognition of the ubiquity of data collection. Our phones and smart watches silently record our movements. Our purchases and internet and TV habits are logged.

It gives consumers the ability to opt out on the collection of relatively benign data, such as their favorite television shows or dessert. It requires an opt in for more sensitive data to be tracked, such locator data.

Companies can continue to collect data used exclusively for the improvement of their products, so long as that data is not shared with third parties.

The measure also creates a working group to consider further steps.

The attorney general would be able to sue violators of the new law, not consumers. Rep. Craig Fishbein, R-Wallingford, described that as a shortcoming that places government between consumers and entities in which they had an implied or explicit contract.

Five Republicans voted against the bill: Fishbein, Whit Betts of Bristol, Anne Dauphinais of Killingly, Donna Veach of Berlin and David Wilson of Litchfield.

Correction

An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the Republicans who voted against the bill.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

Connecticut Public’s journalism is made possible, in part by funding from Jeffrey Hoffman and Robert Jaeger.