Illinois lawmakers are considering a bill, called the “Right to Know Act,” that would impose new regulations on small businesses and increase the threat of litigation.
The proposal, House Bill 2774, is ostensibly about consumer privacy. It would allow customers to know what personally identifiable information is collected about them through the Internet, as well as about the sharing practices involved regarding that information. This means that any business with a website would have to make information available about the disclosure of a customer’s information to a third party, as well as provide an email address or toll-free phone number where customers could request the information that was shared. Customers would have a way to respond legally if the Act were violated.
So, Illinois Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Todd Maisch wrote in a State Journal-Register op-ed, businesses would be required “to draft privacy policies longer and more confusing than anything required by existing law and to create new IT systems—at best, a complex and expensive undertaking; at worst, impossible to implement—to respond to customer requests under threat of liability.”
He also adds that “any error would void the business’ entire contract with consumers, subjecting the business to an onslaught of liability completely unrelated to the likely unintentional violation.”
Federal and state law already requires business privacy policies to explain how customers’ personal information is collected and shared, plus companies know that transparency and customer control is crucial for maintaining consumer trust, so this one-size-fits-all regulation only helps trial lawyers and makes Illinois less business-friendly.
NFIB/IL has filed in opposition to HB 2774.
