The Technology Council seeks to aggressively and proactively promote the interests of the Illinois technology community by advocating for public policy that fosters innovation and promotes economic growth. The Council will seek to promote workforce development policies, advocate for world-class technology infrastructure, avoid overregulation on the industry and support innovators access to the capital they need to grow.
Legislative Update
The House Cybersecurity, Data Analytics & IT Committee canceled its first scheduled meeting of the year. HB 2736 (Buckner) was the sole bill posted. HB 2736 creates the "Right to Know Act". This legislation would forbid an operator of a website or online service from disclosing personal information about users of its website, or application, residing in Illinois unless in the customer agreement they are notified about: i) the personal information collected; ii) all categories of third-party persons or entities with whom the operator may disclose, and iii) proving a description of an Illinois' residents rights under this Act. All website or online service operators that disclose personal information to a third party must maintain an email address or toll-free phone number to inform any Illinois resident that asks what personal information that was shared about them and to whom it was shared. All inquiries must be answered within 30 days. Most worrisome is that it creates a private right of action for failure to comply. As we have seen with BIPA, this can be abused.
The Senate Telecommunications Committee has not yet scheduled a hearing for this year. As of today, only two pieces of legislation have been assigned to the committee. BothSB 2531 and SB 2268are sponsored by Senator Castro and contain identical provisions. These bills prohibit cable and video companies from charging rental fees for modems and routers once the rental has paid enough to cover the wholesale price of the devices plus 5%. SinceSB 2531 has cosponsors and the other measure does not, it is likely that SB 2531 is the one that could be advanced.
Statewide Broadband Expansion
Governor Pritzker held a press conference on Wednesday announcing the state is releasing the first $50 million in funding for matching grants of Connect Illinois, the state's $420 million statewide broadband expansion. This expansion is part of the Rebuild Illinois capital plan.
The program is designed to provide high-speed internet to areas of the state that are currently undeserved. Applicants will likely include internet service providers, rural cooperatives, nonprofits and local governments. Applicants are required to at least match any state funding they receive. The ambitious goal of the program is to provide universal access to broadband to all homes and businesses by 2024. The program was praised by legislators on both sides of the aisle.
