Maine’s Broadband Service Provider Privacy Act
Maine’s Act To Protect the Privacy of Online Customer Information (“Maine’s BSP Privacy Act”) was signed by Maine’s Governor June 6, 2019. Maine’s new BSP law prohibits providers of broadband Internet access services from using, disclosing, selling, or permitting access to customer personal information unless the customer expressly consents or an exception applies. The exceptions under which a provider may use, disclose, sell, or permit access to customer personal information include compliance with the law, fraud prevention, provision of services and emergency situations. Maine’s BSP privacy act also prohibits a provider from refusing to serve a customer, charging a customer a penalty, or offering a customer a discount, requires the implementation of security measures and requires notice.
Maine’s BSP Privacy Act is a reaction to the 2017 repeal of FCC’s rules that would have put in place certain internet privacy protections related to ISPs. The rules, which had not yet gone into effect when they were revoked by a republican Congress with the blessing of the Trump administration, would have placed restrictions on what internet service providers could do with consumer data collected. For example, under the FCC’s rules, providers would have needed permission from customers before collecting and sharing data, including user’s health and financial details, web…
