(INDIANAPOLIS) – You’d be able to see the data that companies collect on you — and ask them to stop — under a bill up for a vote next week in the Senate.
Fort Wayne Republican Liz Brown says the bill is modeled on a Virginia law, and would create the data equivalent of your credit report. You could request an annual rundown of what stores and websites know about you, and opt out of letting them.
The proposal is the second draft of Brown’s bill, after what she says have been weeks of discussions with stakeholders to make sure companies have privacy protection too, for trade secrets. The bill no longer includes a provision which would have required social media sites to disclose their algorithms for determining what content appears on your feed, or gets blocked for violating the sites’ policies.
The bill still allows supermarkets to send you coupons based on your purchasing history, but requires companies to remove personally identifying information like your Social Security number when compiling aggregated data.
Indiana Chamber vice president Adam Berry says the old bill reflected European Union regulations which don’t line up well with American laws. He says the Virginia version represents “the gold standard” in balancing consumer and company rights.
The Senate Commerce Committee approved the bill unanimously, though some members say they still need to further review the overhauled version of the bill, which wasn’t received until just before the committee meeting. The full Senate will vote Tuesday — approval there would send the bill to the House.
