Haste Makes Waste in New Data Privacy Law

At Issue

By Ray Cantor, NJBIA Deputy Chief Government Affairs Officer On Feb 28, 2024

There is little doubt that the modern economy is reliant on the collection, dissemination, and use of online data.

From small startup retailers seeking to find the right consumers through microtargeting, to tourism and hospitality businesses who rely on data sharing to inform potential consumers of the many local options available at the place they are traveling, data is now essential to making the marketplace go round.

However, this reliance on data collection and dissemination also has a cost to a value we hold dear – privacy. It is antithetical to our long-standing notions of wanting to be left alone and not tracked by big government or big business. That has led a dozen states, and now New Jersey, to adopt comprehensive online data privacy laws.

The business community is supportive of these efforts, and we have been working with state legislatures across the country to ensure that any laws passed are properly balanced. We are also seeking to have state laws work together so that systems can be built and privacy expectations the same no matter where you live. We support the ability of any individual to opt out of any data sharing or collection.

However, we also recognize that there is a difference between collecting or sharing sensitive information, such as addresses or Social Security numbers, with data needed to protect consumers from fraud or that merely allows for unidentifiable targeted marketing.

New Jersey, unfortunately, just passed a law that is fundamentally flawed. While the business community has worked for years with the sponsors to craft a bill, three sets of comprehensive amendments were made within a five-day period without business input and then rushed to a vote on the last legislative day of the lame duck legislative session.

The result is a law with vague definitions and conflicting provisions that is not interoperable with other state laws and will lead to needless and costly litigation for technical violations. We are left with a law that will cost both businesses and nonprofits tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to comply with and that will hurt their ability to compete.

All these problems were fixable if the Legislature was willing to take more time to get it right, rather than to rush a complex, and flawed piece of legislation through at the last minute. NJBIA will continue to work with the business community to fix this law so that we can truly have it both ways – the protection of consumer data and the flourishing of our modern economy.

To access more business news, visit NJB News Now.

Related Articles: