Massachusetts ISP Privacy Bill Advances in State Senate
An ISP privacy bill by Massachusetts Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R) has advanced in the state legislature. The Senate Consumer Protection Committee unanimously cleared S-289, sending the measure to the Ways and Means Committee, said a Wednesday update to the Massachusetts General Court’s website.
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Under the text of Tarr's bill, no ISP or telecom provider “that has entered into a franchise agreement, right-of-way-agreement, or other contract with the commonwealth of Massachusetts or a political subdivision, or that uses facilities that are subject to such agreements, even if it is not a party to the agreement, or otherwise operates in the commonwealth of Massachusetts may collect, use, disclose or otherwise disseminate, personal information from a customer resulting from the customer’s use of the” ISP or telecom provider “without express written approval from the customer.”
Also, the covered companies may not “add an additional surcharge for customers that do not provide their express written approval, and said providers shall not refuse to provide services to a customer on the grounds that the customer has not approved collection, use, disclosure or other forms of dissemination of the customer’s personal information,” the bill says.
Massachusetts legislators are also considering comprehensive privacy bills that would apply to companies more broadly (see 2512190059).