Tech's state privacy play

The tech industry is lobbying statehouses across the country to pass privacy bills that critics call weak. Most tech firms would prefer a nationwide law, but since Congress hasn't budged on the issue, the industry now seeks to preempt states from approving tougher privacy rules like California's. Utah lawmakers considered and passed a state privacy bill in less than two weeks, and it's now awaiting the governor's signature. Utah would become the fourth state with a privacy law, following Colorado, Virginia and California. A bill similar to the Utah measure is under consideration in Iowa, and other states, including Tennessee and Maryland, are also weighing privacy bills. The Utah bill is meant to give consumers greater control over their data, such as allowing them to delete the information or opt-out of some data collection. Yes, but: Consumer groups say it's unclear how much control consumers would have over whether their information is used for targeted advertising, and the enforcement mechanism is weak. Consumer advocates say industry groups TechNet and the State Privacy and Security Coalition (SPSC) are pushing weak privacy bills in states while Congress dithers. TechNet argues the Utah bill gives clear protections for consumers and gives Utah's businesses the clarity they need. SPSC describes itself as a coalition of leading tech, telecom, media and retail companies. Members include AT&T, Apple, Google, Amazon and Meta. SPSC said, "Our multi-sector coalition provides substantive expertise to state policymakers, including context on the operational implications of policy proposals and how to help align state privacy laws given the absence of federal law.”