Consumer Reports Urges Governor Ivey to Veto Alabama Personal Data Protection Act Over Loopholes
Consumer Reports, a nonprofit organization focused on marketplace transparency, is calling on Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to veto House Bill 351, known as the Alabama Personal Data Protection Act. The organization argues that the bill fails to adequately protect consumer privacy due to its numerous loopholes and lack of enforcement mechanisms. According to Matt Schwartz, a policy analyst at Consumer Reports, the bill's definitions are weak, allowing companies to exploit terms like 'sale' and 'targeted advertising' to continue processing consumer data. The bill also lacks a universal opt-out provision and sufficient enforcement measures to ensure compliance. Despite these criticisms, the bill does include some consumer rights, such as the ability to know what information companies have collected, delete certain data, and limit data disclosures. However, these rights are seen as insufficient by privacy advocates, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), which also opposes the bill. 
