Ventura Mulls Internet Privacy Bill

ST. PAUL (AP) --Minnesota's Senate and House overwhelmingly approved a bill that backers say would make the state the first to give Internet users control over whether service providers disclose their personal information.

Gov. Jesse Ventura will now decide its fate. He has not indicated a position on the bill.
Sen. Steve Kelley, a Democrat, described the bill as something that would help consumers without burdening Internet service providers.

Under the bill, ISPs would have to tell Minnesota consumers whenever they plan to disclose such personal information about them as which Web sites they've visited, their e-mail or home addresses or telephone numbers. They also would have to say how the information would be used.

It requires that ISP contracts say in a "conspicuous" way whether their customers would have to take action to prevent the information sharing once people are notified, or if the service provider would have to get permission to proceed.

The bill would allow consumers to sue businesses that violate the law, with exceptions for giving information to law enforcement.

A second part of the bill follows the lead of other states that have adopted rules to try to control unwanted e-mail. It would require companies sending unsolicited advertisements to include the letters "ADV" in the subject line of e-mails -- "ADV-ADULT" for material of a sexual nature -- to make it easier to filter out.

Lobbyists from America Online and other Internet giants fought the bill, saying state-by-state regulation of the Internet is unwieldy. The bill wouldn't take effect until March of 2003, and any federal law would supersede.

Copyright 2002. Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.