The state Senate on Thursday approved the groundbreaking Right to Know Act, a measure that would require online companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon to disclose to consumers what data about them has been collected and shared with third parties.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Tinley Park, now heads to the Illinois House after passing on a 31-21 vote.
"I think this is a step forward for Illinois in terms of data privacy," Hastings said Friday. "It gives people the right to know what information (internet companies are) selling to a third party."
Illinois is taking center stage in the national debate over internet privacy legislation, which is shifting from the federal to state level. Congress voted in March to undo the Federal Communications Commission's broadband privacy rules, which were adopted last fall under the Obama administration and set to go into effect this year.
