ISP privacy rules could be resurrected by states, starting in Minnesota

Legislation approved by the Minnesota House and Senate this week would prevent ISPs from collecting personal information without written approval from customers. The quick action came in response to the US House and Senate voting to eliminate nationwide rules that would have forced ISPs to get consent from Americans before using or selling Web browsing history and app usage history for advertising purposes.

When the Minnesota Senate on Wednesday discussed a budget bill, it added an amendment that says ISPs may not "collect personal information from a customer resulting from the customer's use of the telecommunications or Internet service provider without express written approval from the customer." The amendment would also prohibit ISPs from refusing to provide services to customers who do not approve collection of personal information.

The Minnesota House added a similar amendment to its own budget bill on Tuesday, according to a Pioneer Press article.

Democratic state Senator Ron Latz proposed the amendment in the Senate. While the amendment doesn't specifically mention browsing history, the text may be broad enough to cover such collection, and a statement from Latz said his intent is to prevent ISPs from selling "browsing history, health data, financial information, online purchase data, app usage and geo-location." Further Reading For sale: Your private browsing history

“This amendment is about standing up and saying that our online privacy rights are critically important," Latz said. "The amendment states that Minnesotans shall not have their personal information from their use of Internet or telecommunications services collected by providers without their express written approval. It won’t circumvent the federal government, but it will give Minnesotans a legal recourse to protect their privacy."

The Senate and House versions of the budget must be reconciled into a compromise version before final passage, the Pioneer Press noted. Republicans have a one-vote majority in the Minnesota Senate, but one Republican sided with Democrats in order to get the amendment into the Senate's final bill.

“We should be outraged at the invasion that’s being allowed on our most intimate means of communication,” said Republican Sen. Warren Limmer, according to the Pioneer Press. “This is an amendment that so urgently needs to be addressed.”

Republicans have a 77-57 advantage in the Minnesota House, while Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton is a Democrat. Further Reading How ISPs can sell your Web history—and how to stop them

President Trump is expected to sign off on Congress' decision to kill the Federal Communications Commission privacy rules. While there wouldn't be any rules for ISPs at the national level, states could try to implement some form of the FCC rules for their own residents. ISPs might conceivably change their practices nationwide if enough states do so, or customers in some states could have fewer privacy protections than customers in other states.

"As on climate change, immigration and a host of other issues, some state legislatures may prove to be a counterweight to Washington by enacting new regulations to increase consumers’ privacy rights, a New York Times article said this week. The Times article mentioned laws in California, Connecticut, Nebraska, and West Virginia and proposals for new laws in Illinois, Hawaii, and Missouri, but none of these laws and proposals was specifically targeted at ISPs.