ANA Testifies in Opposition to Washington State Privacy Bill

The Washington State House Committee on Innovation, Technology & Economic Development is currently considering SB 6281, a very wide-ranging privacy bill that would set new requirements for how data is handled and processed by companies doing business in the state.  ANA’s Senior Vice President, Government Relations Chris Oswald is currently in Olympia for a hearing this morning. We have also written a more detailed letter in opposition to the bill with our partners at the 4A’s, AAF, IAB, and NAI.

Our testimony notes a number of issues with the legislation and proposed amendments to the bill that would be detrimental for both consumers and businesses.  The bill would create a private right of action, which would drive frivolous lawsuits and hurt innovation while doing little to protect consumer privacy.  In addition, a proposed amendment would change the definition of “sale” to include any data processing activities, needlessly broadening the bill’s coverage to include activities that involve no transfers of personal data to any other parties.  We also urge the committee to consider amendments to the definition of “sale” to clarify how it relates to the definition of the term “targeted advertising.”  There are limits to how the bill treats targeted advertising that are not included under “sale” that make it unclear on how consumers can opt-out of targeted advertising.

Our testimony can be found here.