Senator Ron Latz from St. Louis Park and fellow Democrat, Representative Paul Thissen from Minneapolis, say the Minnesota House and Senate both voted overwhelmingly to prohibit Internet service providers from selling customers’ browser data — but Republicans left that provision out of a major bill that’s being finalized. Thissen says, “Minnesotans are demanding that their privacy be protected… and that they get access to the services that are critical to participation again in the modern economy.” Republican Senator David Osmek (OZ-mek) from Mound responds it’s important that lawmakers get it right and if they can’t agree on a bill this session they’ll continue working on it. He points out Internet privacy language passed by the legislature in 2002 remains fully in play:
Osmek says the measure was put on another bill as an amendment on both the House and Senate floors and “to have it added in the dead of night when you don’t know the expansiveness and the impacts that this could have… is not the way Minnesotans expect us to legislate.” Osmek says it’s important that lawmakers get it right and if they can’t agree on a bill this session they’ll continue working on it. Thissen says the legislature needs to act now because Internet service providers “are making tremendous fortunes off the personal information of every Minnesotan.”
More from Thissen and Latz’s press conference Tuesday:
And here’s the interview with Osmek: