EPIC, ACLU Say W.Va. Privacy Bill Needs Major Work
Consumer privacy advocates condemned a West Virginia comprehensive privacy bill as weak in a letter to the House Energy committee, the Electronic Privacy Information Center said Friday. The committee voted by voice to send the bill, which is nearly identical to Virginia’s law, to the Judiciary Committee earlier this week (see 2503180050).
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EPIC signed the March 18 letter along with the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia, Consumer Reports, Consumer Federation of America and the Center for Democracy & Technology.
HB-2987 has inadequate data-minimization requirements, wouldn’t allow consumers to use universal opt-out mechanisms and has many loopholes and weak definitions, they said. In addition, the legislation lacks teeth because it would be enforced solely by the attorney general, they said.
“The bill needs to be substantially improved before it is enacted; otherwise, it would risk locking in industry-friendly provisions that avoid actual reform,” the groups wrote.