Four national associations that represent internet service providers have sued Maine officials over a law that requires companies to get opt-in consent from customers before sharing or using their personal data.

The law, which passed last year and is set to take effect in July, is among the strictest consumer privacy protections in the country. It was modeled on a Federal Communications Commission rule that was adopted under President Barack Obama but overturned by President Trump’s administration  in 2017.

32-page complaint, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Portland, says Maine’s law violates First Amendment protections by, among other things, restricting ISPs from advertising or marketing services to customers or from offering discounts or rewards in loyalty programs.

Aaron Frey Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press

“Maine cannot discriminate against a subset of companies that collect and use consumer data by attempting to regulate just that subset and not others,” the complaint reads. “Maine’s decision to impose unique burdens on ISPs’ speech – while ignoring the online and offline businesses that have and use the very same information and for the same and similar purposes as ISPs – represents discrimination between similarly situated speakers that is impermissible under the First Amendment.”

The complaint further alleges that “the statute thus excessively burdens ISPs’ beneficial, pro-consumer speech about a wide variety of subjects, with no offsetting privacy-protection benefits,” and that “customer personal information” is too broadly defined and includes data that would not be considered sensitive.

Named as plaintiffs are: ACA Connects, America’s Communication Association; CTIA, the Wireless Association; NCTA, the Internet & Television Association; and USTELECOM, the Broadband Association.

Advertisement

Named as defendants are: Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey and the three members of the Maine Public Utilities Commission: Philip Bartlett, Bruce Williamson and Randall Davis.

The complaint asks the court for “an injunction prohibiting defendants in their official capacities – as well as defendants’ officers, agents, employees and all persons acting in concert with them who receive actual notice of the injunction – from enforcing or threatening to enforce the statute and any implementing regulations.”

The new law, from a bill sponsored by Sen. Shenna Bellows, D-Manchester, passed last May despite some opposition from Republicans and was signed into law by Gov. Janet Mills.

Some instate ISPs testified in favor.

“For Maine’s ISPs, the value of the law would far outweigh the regulatory cost. All Maine citizens would benefit from having their privacy protected,” said Fletcher Kittredge, CEO of Biddeford-based GWI.

CTIA, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, was among those who testified in opposition.

Advertisement

“There is no gap in privacy protections that needs to be filled by L.D. 946. Consumers are well protected by the FTC, the nation’s expert privacy protection enforcement agency,” said Bethanne Cooley, senior director for state legislative affairs for the association that represents wireless companies.

The law was expected to face a legal challenge from those who believe it conflicts with federal law.

Frey said in a written statement Wednesday that the law protects Mainers from companies that may use coercive tactics to obtain consumers’ consent to release personal information.

“If the telecom industry wishes to fight to preserve their right to exploit consumers’ personal data, which includes their physical location, the websites they visit and the content of their communications, this is a fight I am willing to have,” Frey said.

Maine’s law is unlike any in the nation, as it requires an ISP to obtain consent from a consumer before sharing any data. Only California has a similar law on the books, but it requires consumers to “opt out” by asking their ISP to protect their data.

Although Maine’s law conflicts with federal rules, a federal appeals court ruled last October that the FCC “lacked the legal authority to categorically abolish all 50 states’ statutorily conferred authority to regulate intrastate communications.”


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.