Tell your legislators: protect people, not corporations!

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A sign in the shape of an arrow with the word "Privacy" on it Washington’s legislature wants to pass a privacy law. But will it be a strong law that protects people? Or a weak law that lets Facebook, Google, Amazon and other big companies to exploit and abuse our data?

This week’s House floor vote on HB 1850, the Foundational Data Privacy Act, is a key test.  Our deep dive on the affiliates loophole goes into detail on one of the issues — a loophole that lets companies owned by the same parent to share data with each other without even giving you the ability to opt-out — but that’s only the tip of the iceberg.  ACLU of Washington’s detailed feedback on HB 1850 has a long list of other problems

The House will be voting on the bill in the next few days, so now’s a crucial time to contact your legislators about this. Here’s a script you can use.  Cut-and-paste it, edit it however you want, or write your own from scratch if you prefer.

Washington needs strong privacy legislation that protects people, not corporations. HB 1850, the Foundational Data Privacy Act, continues to improve but still needs a lot more work before it meets the minimum bar of providing strong privacy protections. The bill needs to be fully-opt in so that companies have to get consent before using my data. .  It needs to close the affiliates loophole lets Google, Amazon, and Facebook share our data with dozens of companies without even giving me the opportunity to opt out.  Other loopholes and exemptions need also need cleaning up, and cities and counties should be allowed to to pass stronger legislation.   Please support amendments to address these issues – and please OPPOSE HB 1850 if these issues are not addressed.

For a lot more detail about the affiliates loophole, check out our deep dive.

How to contact your legislators about privacy legislation

On the web

Commenting on a bill on the state legislatures web site lets you forward your comments to one or all of your state legislatures. Here’s the link to comment on HB 1850, the Foundational Data Privacy Act.

  1. Fill in your address and click Verify District
  2. Choose your position (OTHER)
  3. Select the legislators you want to sent it to
  4. Fill out the rest of the form and click on Send Comment.

You can cut-and-paste the script here as a starting point for your comments, or write them from scratch if you prefer.

By phone

If you prefer to call, the legislative hotline at 1–800–562–6000 (TTY for Hearing Impaired 800.833.6388) lets you get a message to all your legislators at once.

  1. Tell them the bill you’re calling about (HB 1850) and your position (OTHER), and that you want to leave a comment.
  2. They’ll ask for your address, and then what you want to  comment.

You can keep it simple if you want – “Privacy protections are for everyone.  This bill still needs to be improved significantly to meet the minimum bar.” – or go into more detail.

By email

You can also email your legislators. Their addresses are available on the state legislature’s site. If you’re not sure what district you’re in, you can look it up on the legislature’s District Finder.  Make sure to include your name and city so that they know you’re a constituent.

 

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