AUGUSTA, Maine — Following months of arduous debate, Maine lawmakers are nearing agreement on a proposal opposed by Big Tech and retail giants like L.L. Bean that would give Maine the strongest data privacy protections in the country.
The Judiciary Committee on Monday stopped short of voting on the dueling online privacy bills from Rep. Maggie O’Neil, D-Saco, and Assistant Senate Minority Leader Lisa Keim, R-Dixfield, though they are favoring a version that more closely follows O’Neil’s initial plan.
Broadly, O’Neil’s proposal would limit the use of sensitive data, restrict ads targeted at children and prevent companies from collecting unnecessary information while Keim’s industry-backed measure initially would have rolled back several protections included in a 2019 privacy law that the state successfully defended in court.
O’Neil’s plan, similar to a stalled proposal before Congress, is supported by consumer and civil liberties groups that say it would make data privacy rules in Maine stronger than California’s leading protections. Keim’s bill is closer to existing legislation preferred by the tech industry in Connecticut and several other states.
One of Maine’s signature companies, L.L. Bean, came out against O’Neil’s proposal last year, with attorneys for the outdoor retailer asking lawmakers to not veer from existing privacy laws in those other states.
But the competing plans have been nuanced and also not fallen neatly along party lines, as seen by bipartisan cosponsors for each bill. O’Neil and Keim also worked to combine parts of their proposals relating to issues such as restrictions on data collection and protections for sensitive financial and health data.
Key differences still remain. For example, while both proposals let the Maine attorney general take action against violators following a “right to cure” notice, O’Neil’s bill also gives citizens the ability to sue companies for violating their data privacy rights.
“Companies have a free pass to do what they want with our data, including profiting off our most sensitive information,” O’Neil said Monday.
The two measures have received hours of discussions in Judiciary Committee meetings since getting introduced last year and carried over to 2024. A Monday work session stretched from around 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. while members discussed technical points. Members have only taken informal “straw polls” on different sections, rather than vote on the entire bill.
The complexity of the issue was also on display during previous meetings in January, with a policy analyst helping the committee review a 13-page packet highlighting differences between the bills. Reps. Rachel Henderson, R-Rumford, and Adam Lee, D-Auburn, referenced Frankenstein at one point to describe the efforts to merge aspects of each bill.
Keeping up to speed on the changes has been a chore for not only lawmakers wading through suggested tweaks on paper but for the public as well, because the Legislature’s website still only features the initial language for O’Neil and Keim’s separate bills.
California passed a comprehensive consumer data privacy law in 2018, with 13 states since enacting varying legislation that followed models initially drafted by industry giants such as Amazon, per the Electronic Privacy Information Center and U.S. PIRG Education Fund.
Those two groups released a report Monday giving “D” or “F” grades to nine of the 14 states — including Maine’s New England neighbors, New Hampshire and Connecticut — and a “B+” to California for privacy laws. O’Neil’s bill would earn Maine an “A” and become the strongest data privacy law in the nation, the groups said.
The electronic privacy group, EPIC, and Consumer Reports have been among national groups backing O’Neil’s bill, along with Attorney General Aaron Frey, a Democrat. Big Tech firms and the Maine State Chamber of Commerce said last year they preferred Keim’s bill. After facing criticism it was too industry-friendly, Keim amended it to require firms receive “opt-in” consent for data collection and eliminate a small business exception, among other changes.
An array of state and national interests, including the College Board and medical technology groups, also highlighted the need for exemptions to consider digital services for high school students and patients.
With O’Neil’s bill, Maine “has the opportunity to disrupt the national trend of bad privacy bills and meaningfully protect Mainers’ privacy,” said Caitriona Fitzgerald, EPIC’s deputy director.
