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By Joseph De Avila 

New Jersey legislators are proposing a bill to strengthen data protections and impose tougher restrictions on the tech industry, potentially following in the footsteps of privacy laws passed in California and Europe.

The bill would require companies to obtain permission from New Jersey consumers before they can collect and sell personal data to third parties. The legislation, which would apply to internet companies like Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Facebook Inc., would have implications for any company that collects consumer data.

"This is all about consumer awareness and consumer choice," said Democratic state Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker, chairman of the Assembly's Science, Innovation and Technology Committee and lead sponsor of the legislation.

His committee will hold a public hearing on March 16 to solicit feedback, Mr. Zwicker said.

Several states, including Washington and Illinois, have introduced legislation that would create comprehensive data-privacy laws. California's law, called the California Consumer Privacy Act, went into effect in January. The European Union's law, called the General Data Protection Regulation, went into effect in 2018.

Under the New Jersey bill, companies that collect personal data would be required to provide information to consumers on how it will use the data in clear plain language. Consumers would be able to ask companies to provide them with their own personal data it sells to third parties. And consumers would be able to ask companies collecting such data to delete their personal information.

Amol Sinha, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said consumers need laws to protect personal information from exploitation.

"We need strong restrictions to limit the unchecked mass-scavenging of our personal information and we in the states will be the ones leading these conversations," Mr. Sinha said.

Google declined to comment. Facebook didn't respond to a request for comment. But the Internet Association, a trade group that represents Facebook, Google and other large tech companies, said states should hold off on enacting their own legislation and wait for federal action.

"Americans should be confident that their data is protected regardless of where they live, work or travel," said Robert Callahan, senior vice president of state government affairs for the Internet Association. "Our message to state legislatures is that the best solution is a comprehensive federal privacy law that empowers people to understand how personal information they share is collected, used and protected."

The various legislative proposals across the U.S. reflect that there isn't a consensus on the best approach to digital-privacy laws, said Eric Goldman, co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University. Those individual state efforts could lead to a patchwork of laws where businesses will be forced to create state-specific compliance systems that may be inconsistent with one another, he said.

"It creates really sticky regulatory problems for any businesses doing work across state lines," Mr. Goldman said.

California's law also shows how efforts to strengthen privacy laws at a state level can be messy, Mr. Goldman said. The state attorney general's office is still preparing final regulations for the measure, several bills have been introduced in the state legislature seeking to amend the current law and a ballot measure up for vote this November could change the law even more.

Mr. Zwicker said he agreed a federal law that protects digital privacy would be preferable to state-level laws.

But "there is no indication it will happen any time soon," he added. "Congress can't get anything done like this. It's beholden upon the states to put the interests of their citizens above the logjam in Congress."

Write to Joseph De Avila at joseph.deavila@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 02, 2020 09:48 ET (14:48 GMT)

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