U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) in early April.
SPOKANE, Wash. — Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) recently introduced new legislation to protect data privacy, but some of small and medium-sized businesses said they were concerned.
Both lawmakers announced the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) in early April.
If passed, the APRA bill would give consumers the right to control how their personal data is used by tech companies like Google, Meta, and TikTok.
You also have the right to opt out of certain data practices and the right to access and delete your data.
Under the draft bill, small businesses would be exempt. But some Washington small business owners have concerns about the exemptions.
A group called the Connected Commerce Council held a virtual press conference Tuesday morning in which a small group of business owners, two of whom are based in Spokane, shared their concerns.
This includes Brian Totson, co-owner of Kraken Creative and Paper St. Coffee Co.
“Digital tools are the only thing we need to get their name out there, to communicate with their audience, to let them know what's going on, what's new, and to get the attention they need to really compete in the marketplace.”
The bill states that in order to qualify as a small business, a business must meet one of the following three requirements:
- Customer data cannot be sold to third parties.
- Their annual revenue is less than $40 million.
- No data of more than 200,000 individuals will be collected, processed, retained or transferred.
Jason Stock, founder of Firecracker Software, said in a press conference that he had previously met with Congressman McMorris Rogers to discuss the proposed bill.
He said he liked parts of APRA but asked her to focus only on small business revenues.
“But I asked her not to look at the user numbers, because a digital business like mine, or even the KREM 2 News website, would have a lot of users. It's difficult to monetize through advertising alone.
The Connected Commerce Council confirmed to KREM 2 News that it receives funding from Google and Amazon.
If passed, APRA would supersede current state law.
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