St. Paul – Today, a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by state Rep. John Lesch (DFL-St. Paul) announced a renewed legislative focus advancing the issue of student, employee and personal data privacy. The announcement in Minnesota was one of 16 taking place simultaneously in other states as advocates rolled-out a package of six bills.
“I rise in solidarity today with legislators in states across the country in standing up to affirm our state and nation’s commitment to protecting Americans’ privacy,” Lesch said. “The bills my colleagues and I are introducing are common sense measures protecting the privacy of students, employees and all Minnesotans. The citizens of this state should feel that government is working to protect their privacy, not violate it.”
The bipartisan actions at the state level come in the wake of a recent poll conducted by Anzalone Liszt Grove Research which found that 90 percent of Americans believed (73 percent of them strongly) that the next president should “make protecting privacy so we have more control over our personal information” a policy priority.
“My colleagues and I agree with the vast majority of respondents to this poll, but we are not prepared to wait for Congress or the next President to act,” Lesch said. “The right to privacy is a fundamental American value and, if need be, the states are willing to take the lead in protecting that right.”
The multi-state effort is using the Twitter hashtag #TakeCTRL. The bills included that will be officially introduced in the 2016 legislative session include:
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A general State Electronic Communications Privacy Act: modernizes current law to ensure that there are reasonable privacy protections for individuals’ electronic data.
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Student Information System privacy: Require stronger protections on how and where students’ private data is stored.
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School issued technology program privacy: Create stronger privacy protections for students who use school issued computing devices (such as iPads, laptops etc.)
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Student tech on campus privacy: Gives students the same privacy protections regarding their personal technology devices that all people are given when not on school grounds.
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Student social media privacy: Protect student’s privacy on social media, and ensure schools cannot force students to give them access, except under certain circumstances
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Employee Social Media Privacy: Protect employee’s social media account, by prohibiting employers from forcing employees or job applicants to provide access to their accounts.
Rep. Lesch serves as the DFL-lead on the Minnesota House Civil Law and Data Practices Committee. The 2016 legislative session gets underway March 8.