Privacy, Cybersecurity Models to Dominate ALEC Discussion at State Summit
Privacy and digital rights will dominate the discussion at the American Legislative Exchange Council’s States and Nation Policy Summit in December. Talk will focus on the need for privacy regulations in the states after the National Security Agency surveillance leaks, said North Dakota Rep. Blair Thoreson (R), public chair of the Communications and Technology Task Force. State legislators will learn more about best practices for cybersecurity and interconnection in the Internet protocol transition, said Thoreson.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
The Electronic Data Privacy Protection Act will be discussed at the meeting as part of a yearlong attempt to educate states on privacy laws, said John Stephenson, the task force director. ALEC’s model legislation seeks to clarify requirements for searches of electronic messages, mobile devices incident to arrest, and obtaining geolocation information. “States are taking the lead in these issues, and we expect to see more bills in terms of what governments can obtain without a warrant,” said Stephenson. The NSA leaks over the past six months have made this issue more important because Americans know that the government can spy on them, said Thoreson. “This issue continues to become more important as technology continues to advance in new ways that could invade the privacy of Americans,” said Thoreson.
The state awareness on cybersecurity needs will also be a topic at the meeting, said Stephenson. Maryland’s and Michigan’s governors have developed policies for the National Governors Association, and they're sharing them to develop best practices for all states (CD Aug 6 p5), he said. “For my state’s budget, we had lengthy discussions with the Information Technology Department, and we have been able to protect the data of residents in our state,” said Thoreson. “State policymakers need to work with the state executive branch to make sure that data is protected.” ALEC’s best practices draft calls for effective cybersecurity measures to reflect the global, borderless, interconnected nature of cyberspace, measures capable of responding and adapting to new technologies, measures to focus directly on threats and bad actors, measures to focus awareness and risk management, and measures to build upon public-private partnerships.
The rights of digital equipment owners and small businesses to repair digital equipment will be discussed for the first time at this meeting, said Stephenson. “Copyright issues are an Article 1 power of Congress, but it has been raised at the state level, and we want to provide a forum for the benefit of the state legislators to be a resource for them on this issue,” said Stephenson. The draft resolution says it is an “affront to the principles of free markets and to private property rights” for states to unnecessarily interfere with the right to repair digital products, and it calls for increased transparency and clarity from digital products manufacturers on “the terms and conditions of use, warranties, and license agreements for their products prior to purchase to assist consumers in making informed purchasing decisions.”
The task force was initially going to take up taxes on software and services at its December meeting, but it had to table the discussion when a legislator asked for a panel on interconnection and the Internet protocol transition, said Stephenson. Representatives from ILECs, CLECs and the IP world will be on hand to answer questions on the transition, said Stephenson. “With states tackling the issues of TDM to IP and VoIP, legislators need to learn more about these policy issues,” said Stephenson.
Digital decedent law will also be tackled in terms of social media rights, said Stephenson. “States are now trying to figure out how to look at social networks and not break the law,” he said. “Cyberbullying and cyberstalking could also be addressed in our discussion.” ALEC’s model legislation would provide access or copies of the contents of a deceased’s electronic mail account authorized upon a written request to the electronic mail provider by the states and the order of the state court.
Public-private partnerships will also be part of a discussion by ALEC’s Innovation subcommittee to determine how state universities can utilize their resources, said Thoreson. State efforts on patent reforms will be also discussed as the debate heats up in Congress, said Stephenson. “With the growth of patents and startup companies, we will learn about the extraordinary growth that these efforts can generate in the tech arena,” said Stephenson. (sfriedman@warren-news.com)