AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine House of Representatives passed Tuesday a proposal to strengthen data privacy protections in the state after it received months of debate and lobbying.
Rep. Maggie O’Neil, D-Saco, sponsored the bill supported by privacy advocates and Attorney General Aaron Frey while opposed by Big Tech and Maine businesses like L.L. Bean. The House voted 75-70 to pass it mostly along party lines Tuesday night and send it to the Senate as lawmakers seek to finish their work this week.
Reps. David Boyer of Poland and Nathan Carlow of Buxton were the lone Republicans to support the measure, while Reps. Jim Dill of Old Town, Holly Stover of Boothbay, Anne Graham of North Yarmouth and Bruce White of Waterville were the lone Democrats to oppose it.
It initially sought to give Maine stronger data privacy protections than California and its nation-leading regulations before Democrats on the Judiciary Committee amended it as part of a compromise that took out the ability of residents to sue companies for violating their rights.
Still, the O’Neil bill was similar to a stalled proposal in Congress and viewed as stronger than a competing proposal from Assistant Senate Minority Leader Lisa Keim, R-Dixfield, that was closer to laws in Connecticut and other states that are viewed as friendlier to the tech industry. O’Neil’s measure allows the attorney general to take action against violators and has stricter “data minimization” standards that limit what companies can collect.
The bill has exemptions for various types of companies, including those that control or process the personal data of fewer than 100,000 customers, excluding data used solely for completing payment transactions, or to companies processing data for fewer than 10,000 customers and deriving more than 20 percent of gross revenue from selling personal data.
Several business leaders participated last week in a Maine State Chamber of Commerce roundtable to express concerns with O’Neil’s bill. Innkeeper Greg Soutiea of the Craignair Inn by the Sea and Causeway Restaurant in St. George said with a “limited budget for marketing, we can be deliberate and intentional with the dollars we spend on advertising.”
O’Neil emphasized Tuesday night her bill exempts small businesses and will “put us back in control of our data,” but Soutiea and others on the chamber of commerce roundtable said they they will still lose access to their targeted marketing tools.
O’Neil also noted Maine will not isolate itself as the only state with stricter protections, as Maryland lawmakers passed strong data privacy legislation earlier this month.
“Mainers are constantly tracked in harmful and unexpected ways online,” O’Neil said. “And right now, there are no rules.”