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."
“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."
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