By Michael Shepherd - Oct. 13, 2023
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Tension remains between Big Tech and civil libertarians around Maine privacy legislation. Some lawmakers are coming back to Augusta next week to work on a host of online privacy bills that seek to address a complex national issue. A few of them have already drawn opposition from some of the biggest tech companies in the world, underscoring the stakes of Maine's debate.

The main attraction may be a sweeping measure that seeks to create a new Data and Privacy Protection Act that would prevent companies from collecting unnecessary information, tamp down the use of sensitive data and restrict ads targeted at children. The Judiciary Committee will take testimony on that measure and work on others on the same general subject on Tuesday.

This bill was rolled out in the spring by Rep. Maggie O'Neil, D-Saco, who also has other measures up for consideration that would make companies get consent from Mainers before collecting sensitive data and try to shield health data online through a technique known as geofencing.

She is effectively competing against a measure backed by Big Tech and business groups here that would roll back some of the protections passed in a landmark 2019 privacy law here that the state defended successfully in court. It comes from Assistant Senate Minority Leader Lisa Keim, R-Dixfield, and both the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine and Attorney General Aaron Frey, a Democrat, opposed it earlier this year.

O'Neil's data and privacy act is similar to one that has been proposed at the federal level that is both bipartisan and supported by TechNet, a group that represents tech giants including Apple, Amazon, Google and credit card companies. It has lobbied against strict laws in the states while throwing its weight behind looser privacy protections like those offered in the Keim bill, which it argues would create a more predictable patchwork of laws.

Some states have followed in both approaches. California enacted a strict privacy law that has been the subject of lawsuits from tech companies, while states including Utah, Colorado, Connecticut and Virginia have passed laws friendlier to them. TechNet has urged Maine to follow Connecticut's laws.

The Maine lawmaker and her allies have countered that states need strong protections absent federal action. All of these bills came out earlier this year but were only debated a little before being carried over to the 2024 session, so that's when the Legislature's posture on this issue will take shape.

What's interesting about the debate so far is that O'Neil and Keim's signature bills include co-sponsors from across the political spectrum from progressives to libertarians, as do some of the other privacy measures. It is likely to produce some nuanced conversations and policy solutions in a state that likes privacy.