Illinois has almost passed a bill banning devices that register you without your consent – then Big Tech intervened / Boing Boing

This week, the Illinois Senate defeated the Keep Internet Devices Safe Act: it would have allowed people to sue the manufacturers if they had determined that a device had been launched. in remote registration without its owner being notified.

Professional groups led by the Internet Association, groups representing Microsoft, Google and Amazon (all of whom make scary surveillance "loudspeakers", put heavy pressure on the Senate), which, according to the manufacturers, is under the control of the user. ), and senators amended the bill to make it effectively useless.

Under the bare bill passed by the Senate, residents of Illinois who have been unnaturally registered by their devices may notify the Attorney General of the State, who then decides to proceed. open an investigation.

It's now at the Illinois House of Reps, and it's unlikely that its strong, original language will be restored.

In the original form of the bill, users could file a complaint with the Illinois Attorney General's office that could result in penalties of up to $ 50,000. But after the technology-driven Internet industry-led business associations objected, said the state's definition of "digital device" was too broad and the law would result in "private litigation" that could lead to to a frivolous class action "has been reduced.

In its current sterilized form, the bill gives the Attorney General the exclusive power to enforce the law, which means that ordinary citizens will not be able to bring cases against tech giants who register them at home.

Big Tech lobbying has erased a bill that would prohibit you from registering without consent [Rob Dozier/Motherboard]

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