“Washington State Attorney General Christine Gregoire has proposed new legislation to give consumers more control over how businesses collect and use personal information.Gregoire has also released the final report by a consumer privacy workgroup created this past July to examine and recommend solutions for an array of troublesome consumer privacy issues including identity theft, unauthorized credit card charges and selling a consumer’s personal information without their knowledge or consent.Gregoire said the report points out that consumers are concerned about how their private information is used, but also makes the case that they like the speed, service and product selection that can be offered by businesses using personal data.We found traditional privacy concerns are in conflict with modern marketing and I think both businesses and consumers are interested in finding acceptable practices for the future, Gregoire said.During the course of its review, the workgroup heard a number of consumer complaints ranging from minor, but irritating frustrations to real-life horror stories.One woman said she was dismayed when she discovered a telemarketer had information about her prescription drugs. Another claimed her mortgage lender sold her name to a telemarketer who then charged her for membership in a shopping club without her knowledge or authorization.A victim of identity theft told about having to unravel the nightmare of trying to correct thousands of dollars in debt created by a complete stranger who used her name to obtain a driver’s license, open a bank account and rack up bills – in her name.Consumers clearly want and deserve the power to decide whether their personal information is shared, how much it is shared, and with whom it is shared, said Seattle attorney Jenny Durkan, who chaired the consumer privacy workgroup.The workgroup, which includes representatives from private business, local retailers, consumer advocates, law enforcement and elected officials, reached a consensus on a number of issues and unanimously agreed that granting consumers more control over the use of their own personal information would be appropriate.Gregoire said there is only a patchwork of state and federal laws aimed at protecting privacy and the laws that do exist do not apply to many businesses.With recognition that the exchange of information may also benefit economic growth and business expansion, the goal of Gregoire’s proposed legislation is to protect individual privacy without stifling emerging business practices.As proposed, the bill would:- Create a new category of sensitive information, including account numbers, access codes, and tax identification numbers that cannot be shared without an individual’s explicit and written consent.- Require those who share or sell customer names and addresses, buying profiles, and demographic data to clearly disclose that practice and provide consumers with a cost-free method to stop the practice.- Restrict the amount of information a business may require from a consumer to only what is reasonably necessary to complete a transaction.- Safeguard information that’s shared or sold to others by prohibiting its re-use beyond the original purpose for which it was provided.- Give consumers the opportunity to review and correct the accuracy of information that is shared or transferred with others.- Create new penalties for violations under the state’s Consumer Protection Act, giving individual victims the right to potentially recover $500 or the actual sustained costs in damages, whichever is greater.- Establish new protections for victims of identity theft, including the ability to more readily obtain relevant information from merchants and collection agencies while contesting the validity of certain debts.The vast majority of businesses want to do the right thing regarding privacy, and it’s clearly in their best interest to be part of a responsible, workable solution, Gregoire said. The workgroup report and this legislation represent a major step forward in fulfilling that responsibility.”