SPRINGFIELD – Governor Bruce Rauner today vetoed HB 3449, a bill that would harm businesses and inhibit innovation without better protecting consumers from privacy issues.
“This bill would result in job loss across the state without materially improving privacy protections for Illinoisans or making devices and their apps safer for children,” Gov. Rauner said. “The addition of this policy to Illinois’ existing burden of red tape will hurt Illinois’ growing reputation as a destination for innovation-based job creation.”
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HB 3449 would require an additional and redundant layer of app notifications on electronic devices and create penalties on app developers and tech companies for noncompliance. This layer would fail to provide any improved privacy protections for Illinoisans. At a time when Illinois wants to attract technology-driven companies, enacting technology-hostile measures would harm the competitiveness of the state.
“We appreciate Governor Rauner’s veto of the bill and look forward to working closely with legislators to find a solution that is easy to understand and implement for consumers while preserving all of the benefits that geolocation services offer,” said Alexi Madon, Director, State Government Affairs, CompTIA.
“The internet industry thanks Governor Rauner for vetoing this harmful, duplicative bill. This legislation would have created costly, and disruptive requirements for any website or app collecting location information in Illinois, without better protecting consumers,” said Internet Association Vice President of State Government Affairs Dustin Brighton. “With this veto, Illinois businesses can continue innovating and providing robust services to their customers and users. We look forward to working with Governor Rauner and the Illinois legislature on policies that will foster innovation, growth, and jobs in the Land of Lincoln.”
"The veto allows industry to continue to do what they do best – stimulate our state’s economy, create jobs, and develop safe and amazing innovations. Illinois needs to encourage those types of efforts and find new ways to attract people to this market,” said Vice President and General Counsel for NetChoice Carl Szabo. “By eliminating the disruptions and redundancies that were part of this bill, we will allow one of the state’s fastest growing industries to succeed.”
