{"id":3751,"date":"2021-02-09T04:58:54","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T04:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2024.thenexus.today\/index.php\/2021\/02\/09\/sb-5026-testimony-for-the-ways-means-hearing-fe\/"},"modified":"2021-02-09T04:58:54","modified_gmt":"2021-02-09T04:58:54","slug":"sb-5026-testimony-for-the-ways-means-hearing-fe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/2024.thenexus.today\/index.php\/2021\/02\/09\/sb-5026-testimony-for-the-ways-means-hearing-fe\/","title":{"rendered":"SB 5026 Testimony for the Ways & Means Hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"

I testified at the February 8 House Ways & Means hearing on SB 5062<\/a>. \u00a0So did quite a few other people, so we only had a minute each! \u00a0 The video is available on TVW<\/a>; SB 5062 was the first bill discussed in the session, and my testimony starts at 23:15. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Here’s an expanded version of what I said, which I’m also submitting as written testimony.<\/em><\/p>\n

Madame Chair, Madame Ranking Member, and members of the committee,<\/p>\n

Thank you once again for the opportunity to speak at today\u2019s hearing on SB 5062. In my written testimony, I\u2019d like to expand on the points I made. \u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Jon Pincus from Bellevue, a technologist and entrepreneur, and former General Manager of Strategy Development at Microsoft.<\/p>\n

I continue to OPPOSE SB 5062 as currently written. \u00a0My testimony at the January 14 ENET hearing<\/a> and followup letter to the committee, and lengthy discussion in The Illusion of Protection<\/a> cover a wide variety of issues. \u00a0My comments here focus on the fiscal aspects, where Ways & Means has an opportunity to improve the legislation.<\/p>\n

SB 5062\u2019s current fiscal note<\/a> fails to allocate sufficient resources for enforcement. Section 111 of the bill gives the Attorney General\u2019s Office (AGO) sole enforcement authority — but the paltry $1.4 million budget for the next two years is only enough for 3.6 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) and three investigations per year. Allocations then decrease<\/strong> in future years.<\/p>\n

Contrast this with Ireland, whose data protection commission has a $23 million annual budget <\/a> despite having a population smaller than Washington state. \u00a0 The German state of Schleswig-Holstein, half the population of Washington, has a staff of 25 in its data protection office. \u00a0Even tiny Luxembourg allocates over $8 million\/year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite these much larger allocations, European data protection enforcement has been held back by lack of resources<\/a>. \u00a0 As you heard at the hearing, Facebook has 150 privacy lawyers. \u00a0Just last week, an EU commission called for the European Commission to sued the Irish DPC for failing to enforce the GDPR<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While SB 5062 does reserve any receipts from civil penalties under this act for recovering costs and attorney\u2019s fees, the fiscal note projects this as not generating any cash through 2027.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s experience is instructive here. \u00a0In the only case settled so far under their 2018 CCPA<\/a>, the settlement gave $2 to each person who had been harmed, but did not impose any additional civil penalties. \u00a0California\u2019s newer CPRA allocates an annual budget starting at $10 million \/ year, which must be increased by the legislature \u201cas may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this title.\u201d \u00a0[The CPRA also removed <\/em>the right to cure, a topic several other speakers at the hearing discussed.]<\/p>\n

Ways & Means can resolve this fiscal problem by taking the AGO\u2019s suggestion of allowing a private right of action. \u00a0Some specific changes to consider:<\/p>\n