Cut to the chase.
That's the message from Assemblyman Ed Chau to websites that require prospective users to scroll through page after page of privacy policy before they can register as users.
The Monterey Park Democrat proposed legislation this week to require websites that collect personal information to make their privacy policies short, sweet – and simple.
Lengthy legalese keeps many consumers from understanding such policies, he said.
"I think many privacy policies actually create a false sense of privacy for the average consumer," Chau said. "They're just so long that people skip over them and click 'accept' without knowing what they're signing onto."
Assembly Bill 242 would require Internet privacy policies to be written at an eighth-grade reading level, use concise wording and include a statement indicating what personal information is collected and how it is used.
AB 242 would limit privacy policies to 100 words. Chau practices what he preaches.
His bill is 64 words long.
– Jim Sanders
CAPITOL WATCH
More than a dozen groups announced this week that they are joining forces to oppose an overhaul of the California Environmental Quality Act. CEQA Works includes the state League of Conservation Voters, Planning and Conservation League, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club California, several labor groups and the League of Women Voters of California.
– Torey Van Oot
WORTH REPEATING
"I categorically deny it! RT @SenatorCardin (Ben) Cardin to release photos of @SenatorBoxer scaling the walls of #superdome cutting power."
SEN. BARBARA BOXER, via Twitter, getting ribbed by a Maryland colleague who backed the Baltimore Ravens in last Sunday's Super Bowl
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