Washington Privacy Organizers

"Take action!" -- in big red capital letters.

TAKE ACTION: if you're a Washington state resident, sign in CON on ESWESHB 1423 to say no to harmful surveillance technologies! (1/4)

https://app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Testifier/Add?chamber=Senate&mId=33235&aId=166665&caId=26757&tId=3

ESHB 1423 is a harmful bill that […]

[Original post on pnw.zone]

CDT applauds Washington State House on overwhelming passage of HR 1483, giving consumers #RightToRepair electronic equipment at their chosen service provider, without manufacturers throwing obstacles in the way. Looking forward to Senate passage and enactment into law. lawfilesext.leg.wa.g...

The Great Chatbot Debate Chatbots based on large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT, answer sophisticated questions, pass professional exams, analyze texts, generate everything from poems to computer programs, and more. But...

This will be my first time participating in a debate-style event --- or at least one explicitly billed as such (looking at you, NAACL 2022 panel). Should be interesting.

Tickets are free and both in person and virtual are available.

computerhistory.org/events/great...

Anchorage police not moving forward with using AI to write reports, for now “We were hoping that it would be providing significant time savings for our officers, but we did not find that to be the case,” said APD Deputy Chief of Administration Gina Burington.

After a 3 month trial, the Anchorage Police Department is not moving forward w/ Axon's Draft One product which uses body camera audio and AI to generate narrative police reports because they found it was NOT a time saver--Axon's biggest marketing talking point.

My Health My Data's budget was $0, which made things easier. But AGO resources are spread much much much more thinly these days so I can see why they thought they'd need additional people.

... the additional complexity of incorporating My Health My Data's protections for health care data, so there were three categories. And then the right to cure got added in committee, that probably also adds more work for the AGO. But, it didn't get a hearing, so I don't know the details.

No I don't - presumably guidance and enforcement, not sure what else. One of the many downsides of the sensitive/non-sensitive data distinction (which I see as basically a big tech scam to reduce protections) is that it makes things more complicated. And, in this case, there was also ...

It's based on the California law (without the parental rights aspects) so it should be easy to reuse most of the content for the lawsuit. But I'd much rather deal with it *before* it passes than rely on the courts.

FYI @fightforthefuture.org @mikestabile.bsky.social @rahaeli.bsky.social @savannahsly.bsky.social the "age estimation" / "protect the children" bills moving forward in WA state just got worse.

@onekade.bsky.social I believe there's also a similar privacy bill in WA based on the EPIC/CR model legislation? I can share some feedback I got from legislators if it's useful, also what activism tactics did and didn't work here.

FYI @benwinters.bsky.social @rj-x.bsky.social @caitrionafitz.bsky.social update on HB 1671 (People's Privacy Act) in Washington: died without a hearing in Approps. There's a budget crunch so the fiscal note ($825K year for 4.7 FTEs in the AGO) was a lot. Although, that's also a convenient excuse.

And both "protecting children online" bills, which include "age estimation" requirements, moved forward -- with some unfortunate amendments to both HB 1834 and SB 5708.

Companies are now allowed to retain age estimation information, making the privacy risks even worse -- especially to LGBTQ+ […]

Washing Privacy Legislation update: not good, unfortunately (1/3)

Friday February 28 was the “fiscal cutoff”: any bills in the House not approved by the Appropriations committee are dead for the session. Alas, Appropriations never called a hearing or scheduled a vote on either HB 1671 (the […]

How Cambridge Analytica Used Intimate Data to Exploit Gun Owners’ Private Lives Documents obtained by ProPublica detail the sophistication and intrusiveness of Cambridge’s work for the gun industry in 2016. The firm’s campaign aimed to help elect Donald Trump and keep industry-fr...

Take time to update your data privacy settings. Know what information you’re giving out and if you can drop META

projects.propublica.org/gun-owners-c...

Take Action! (in big red capital letters)

If you're a Washington state resident, wa-privacy.net/email-approp... brings up draft email to the committee currently considering the People's Privacy Act. Add your name, city, and anything else you want to say, and click send.

Big Tech is trying to kill the bill, so we need to push back! (4/7)

Big Tech lobbyists will pull out all the stops to weaken or kill the People's Privacy Act. But we've beaten them before, and we can do it again!

If you'd like to help - whether or not you're a Washington state resident - please take our activism survey at wa-privacy.net/activism-sur... (7/7)

65+ Civil Society Groups Urge Democratic States to Protect Individual Data, Privacy Under Trump Organized by Accountable Tech, Fight for the Future, and UltraViolet, a broad and diverse coalition of more than 65 civil society organizations today sent a letter to Democratic stronghold states call...

As @accountabletech.bsky.social, @fightforthefuture.org, Ultraviolet, and over 60 other civil society groups highlight, strong privacy legislation in states where Democrats have power (like Washington, for example) is incredibly urgent (6/7)

www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2025-02...

If you'd prefer to use the phone or a web form to contact your legislators -- or want more info about the People's Privacy Act -- we've got details at wa-privacy.net/take-action-...

And whether or not you're in Washington, please help get th word out by sharing this link! (5/7)

Take Action! (in big red capital letters)

If you're a Washington state resident, wa-privacy.net/email-approp... brings up draft email to the committee currently considering the People's Privacy Act. Add your name, city, and anything else you want to say, and click send.

Big Tech is trying to kill the bill, so we need to push back! (4/7)

Dangerous Data: the role of data collection in genocides One way of working out if the data you’re gathering is particularly sensitive is to do a thought experiment: what would happen if this data got into the hands of a malicious actor? Who would be keen t...

These protections are espeically critical at a time when Big Tech companies are working with Trump administration to target immigrants, LGBTQIA2S+ people, disabled people, people of color ... See responsibledata.io/2016/11/21/d... on the role of data collection in multiple genocides. (3/7)

The People’s Privacy Act protects sensitive data including racial or ethnic origin; religious beliefs; sex life; sexual orientation; status as transgender or nonbinary; union membership; citizenship or immigration status; health and biometric data; precise location data; and browsing history. (2/7)

TAKE ACTION: Support the People's Privacy Act! (1/7)

The People’s Privacy Act limits how much data companies can collect; prohibits transfer and sale of sensitive data without opt-in consent; and bans using kids' and teens' data to target advertising.

wa-privacy.net/take-action-...

The Washington House Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans Committee votes 7-4 to advance the People's Privacy Act, HB 1671.!

Good news!

There's still a long ways to go but this is encouraging. Thanks to everybody who took action, and stay tuned for next steps!

Rep. Kloba responds to the point about individual data not being insignificant, noting that it's the combination and inference from the data -- can be used to identify (e.g.) sexual orientation.

Chair Ryu echos Kloba's concern about inference.

Rep. Barnard acknowledges that there are bad actors but still thinks we should vote no. "Some of this data doesn't pose any threats."

Rep. Thomas mentions concerns about the right to cure -- "the horse is out of the barn" -- but will still be supporting the bill.

A Republican response (not sure who was speaking) warns about the impact on inflation. lolsob.

Ranking Member Barnard suggests going back to the Bad Washington Privacy Act as a starting point -- even though THE LEGISLATURE REJECTED IT FOUR TIMES!!!!!

"When the personal data of election officials and judges is available to purchase, that's a threat to democracy." Notes manipulation of opinion on Facebook, also a threat.

Now discussions on the bill itself. Rep. Kloba notes that we've been discussing privacy legislation since 2019, and that much of this bill is already required in other states. We're moving beyond that -- and other states are considering the same.

Rep. Kloba: "This is a right that citizens in Washington already have in other areas. Taking away that right is a serious loss."

The amendment is not adopted -- looks like a vote on straight party lines. Good news for privacy advocates!