Illinois Data Breach Bill Passes the House

Yesterday SB1833, a bill that would dramatically increase the potential liability for marketers in the event of a data breach, passed by a vote of 63-52 in the Illinois House. The bill would add “consumer marketing information” to the definition of personal information under the state’s data breach law. It would require notification of the attorney general if there is a breach of “information related to a consumer’s online browsing history, online search history, or purchasing history.” A different version of the bill passed the Senate on April 22nd by a vote of 35-13. The bill now goes back to the Senate for further consideration as early as next week.    

ANA sent a letter to the Senate in opposition to SB1833, which is available here. We also joined in a broad industry letter to the House, which is available here.   

We strongly urge our members to contact their Illinois State Senators to let them know what an unnecessary cost and burden this bill would create. Contact information for members of the Senate is available here. We also urge our members to contact Governor Bruce Rauner to express opposition to this bill. A veto by the Governor may be the ultimate backstop if this legislation is approved by the General Assembly.