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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 11, 2023 01:55 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Robert W. Mercuri and Rep. Stephenie Scialabba |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Data Privacy Legislation (Prior HB2202) |
| In the near future, we will be introducing legislation regarding consumer data privacy. Our legislation will require larger companies and personal data aggregators to share more information with our constituents about what data of theirs is gathered, tracked and sold. In general, Pennsylvanians do not have rights to know what personal information companies collect, purchase or sell about them. They also do not have rights to require that this information be deleted or to stop it from being sold and used for profit or other unanticipated purposes. When our constituents’ personal information, such as their names, addresses, geolocation, purchase history, interests, Social Security number, driver’s license number, biometric information or email address is harvested, bought, or sold, we believe that they have a right to understand that information, to access it and to have it deleted. Additionally, constituents should be able to opt-out of such collection, use and sale, and do so without discriminatory consequences. This bill will ensure these protections but also preserve the ability for companies to negotiate with consumers over the value and use of their information, should they so choose. Violations of these rights would be considered a violation of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law with enforcement falling under the jurisdiction of the Attorney General’s Office. While this issue perennially arises in Washington D.C., the inability of our federal government to pass legislation addressing this issue has created a void that our Commonwealth owes our constituents to fill. Thank you for your consideration and I hope you’ll join us in supporting this legislation to help protect Pennsylvanians. We look forward to working with you on this important legislation. |
Introduced as HB1947