Maryland Passes Two Bills Limiting Tech Platforms' Ability To Track Users (theverge.com) 19
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: The Maryland legislature passed two bills over the weekend limiting tech platforms' ability to collect and use consumers' data. Maryland Governor Wes Moore is expected to sign one of those bills, the Maryland Kids Code, on Thursday, MoCo360 reports. If signed into law, the other bill, the Maryland Online Privacy Act, will go into effect in October 2025. The legislation would limit platforms' ability to collect user data and let users opt out of having their data used for targeted advertising and other purposes. Together, the bills would significantly limit social media and other platforms' ability to track their users -- but tech companies, including Amazon, Google, and Meta, have opposed similar legislation. Lawmakers say the goal is to protect children, but tech companies say the bills are a threat to free speech.
Part of the Maryland Kids Code -- the Maryland Age-Appropriate Design Code Act -- will go into effect much sooner, on October 1st. It bans platforms from using "system design features to increase, sustain, or extend the use of the online product," including autoplaying media, rewarding users for spending more time on the platform, and spamming users with notifications. Another part of the legislation prohibits certain video game, social media, and other platforms from tracking users who are younger than 18. "It's meant to rein in some of the worst practices with sensible regulation that allows companies to do what's right and what is wonderful about the internet and tech innovation, while at the same time saying, 'You can't take advantage of our kids,'" Maryland state Delegate Jared Solomon, one of the bill's sponsors, said in a press conference Wednesday.
"We are technically the second state to pass a kids code," Solomon told The New York Times. "But we are hoping to be the first state to withstand the inevitable court challenge that we know is coming."
Part of the Maryland Kids Code -- the Maryland Age-Appropriate Design Code Act -- will go into effect much sooner, on October 1st. It bans platforms from using "system design features to increase, sustain, or extend the use of the online product," including autoplaying media, rewarding users for spending more time on the platform, and spamming users with notifications. Another part of the legislation prohibits certain video game, social media, and other platforms from tracking users who are younger than 18. "It's meant to rein in some of the worst practices with sensible regulation that allows companies to do what's right and what is wonderful about the internet and tech innovation, while at the same time saying, 'You can't take advantage of our kids,'" Maryland state Delegate Jared Solomon, one of the bill's sponsors, said in a press conference Wednesday.
"We are technically the second state to pass a kids code," Solomon told The New York Times. "But we are hoping to be the first state to withstand the inevitable court challenge that we know is coming."
VPN (Score:5, Interesting)
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Hmmm Maybe I should set my VPN to come out in Maryland,
Why not Switzerland? It has much stronger privacy laws than Maryland.
Really needs to be in effect on the national level (Score:3)
Each state having its own data collection/retention laws is going to be a mess.
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Each state having its own data collection/retention laws is going to be a mess.
If you think this is a mess, you should see why we’re no longer able to rely on anything at the “national” level.
Competency really needs to be in effect at the national level too.
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That's been true since the 60s.
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It's more likely that'll be the result of a court result.
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Ruling, not result.
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The solution that will be offered will be a law that the states can't regulate anything at all.
Couldn't do that if they wanted to because the federal govt can't regulate anything but the few things its founding documents explicitly allow. Although the pro-big govt crowd is doing a pretty good job saying everything under the sun is allowed via the commerce clause (which was originally designed to prevent states from adding tariffs to goods passing through their states).
The powers of the federal government are enumerated; it can only operate in certain cases; it has legislative powers on defined and limited objects, beyond which it cannot extend its jurisdiction. - James Madison
On the other hand, states can do pretty much anything, bound only by their constitution and the Constitutions Bill of Rights.
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Is there private right of action? (Score:2)
Or is it like Virginia's privacy regs written by Amazon and have no teeth. In Virginia only the state AG can bring a case.
Meaningless without Enforcement. (Score:3)
All of the “crackdowns” on social media data collecting are meaningless without enforcement. You will notice a lot of “reign in” talk about these “worst” practices, but zero “or else” to back it up.
Bullshitspeak from politicians currently getting rich off social media political donations. Ain’t holding my breath on this one.