The People's Privacy Act (HB 1671): testimony and followon mail

The Washington state House Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans committee had a hearing on the People's Privacy Act on Tuesday February 1. The bill is based on model state privacy legislation from EPIC and Consumer Reports. During the hearing privacy advocates from WA People’s Privacy, ACLU of Washington, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports, EPIC, US PIRG, and Lake Washington High School supported the bill. So did I! Unsurprisingly, though, big tech lobbyists opposed it fiercely, claiming the sky would fall if it passed. Who would have predicted?

TAKE ACTION: The committee vote is scheduled for Friday, February 14. If you're in Washington state, Washington Privacy Organizers has a post on how you can tell your legislators to pass the People's Privacy Act! And if you're not in Washington state, please let your friends in Washington know.

The bill is based on EPIC and Consumer Reports' model state privacy legislation, and there's a brief summary in Rep. Shelley Kloba Introduces the People’s Privacy Act Ahead of Data Privacy Day on the Washington State House Democrats site. The bill page on the state legislature's site links off to the current text and the bill analysis from the non-partisan committee staff. For more details, right now the hearing is the best source – the discussion of HB 1671 starting at about 34:30 in the video.

Testimony

My testimony starts at about 1:41:00 in the video. Here's the version I had prepared ... as always, there may be some minor differences in what I actually said!

Chair Ryu, Ranking Member Barnard, and members of the committee,

I'm Jon Pincus from Bellevue, a technologist and entrepreneur. I’m the founder of The Nexus of Privacy, former General Manager of Strategy Development at Microsoft, and also a leader of Indivisible Plus Washington.  I SUPPORT HB 1671, the People’s Privacy Act. 

It’s a well-crafted bill; and builds on the work the legislature has already done with My Health My Data.  Rep. Barnard, your question about the standard for “reasonable standard of care ” is a good example of this – that language is already in My Health My Data. 

So please ignore the spin from industry lobbyists. They always claim the world will end if they have to get consent to exploit our data. As Andrew Kingsman pointed out, most of the “19 other state bills” they keep referring to were based on the industry-supported Bad Washington Privacy Act, which our legislature *rejected* *four times*. Sure, lobbyists for big tech and the advertising industry got them passed elsewhere – and without a private right of action – but we do get to make our own decisions!

Chair Ryu asked if there’s more urgency now than a few years ago … yes, very much so. Especially at a time like this, it’s absolutely crucial to protect Washingtonians’ data. So please advance the People’s Privacy Act.

Follow-on mail

Here's mail I sent to the committee on Wednesday, February 12.

Chair Ryu, Ranking Member Barnard, and members of the committee,

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on HB 1671 last week.  This email is a followup to my brief response during the hearing to Chair Ryu’s excellent earlier question about whether there’s more urgency now than a few years ago.

Dangerous Data: the role of data collection in genocides (from 2016) discusses the role that data abuse played in the the Rwanda genocide, the Holocaust, and the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans in World War II. Since then, Meta (formerly Facebook) has contributed to multiple genocides, including Myanmar and Ethiopia.

Today, the increasing use of AI by unscrupulous big tech companies like Meta and X is happening at the same time the the federal government is building concentration camps, stripping rights from LGBTQ+ people and women, and attempting to prohibit any mention of diversity, equity, inclusion,or accessibility as part of their "war on woke."  Meanwhile, X’s CEO is giving Nazi salutes.

So yes, it's urgent. Never again is now.

The People’s Privacy Act protects data including race and ethnicity, religion, trans and non-binary status, sexual orientation, immigrant status, and location -- complementing My Health My Data's protections for health care data. Please look for opportunities to further strengthen the bill, but even if that proves politically impossible, the current version is a hugely valuable.

It’s crucial to provide as much protection for Washingtonians' data as you can.  Please pass the People’s Privacy Act.