The Honorable Bruce Rauner

Governor of the State of Illinois

207 State House

Springfield, IL 62706



Governor Rauner:

We write in support of two important consumer privacy bills that are currently in the Illinois General Assembly and on their way to your desk: the Right to Know Act (SB1502, HB2774) and the Geolocation Privacy Protection Act (HB3449).

We are the tech startups, enterprise software companies and web development shops that believe these laws are necessary for the protection of citizens’ privacy rights and critical for ensuring consumer trust in our industry.

A large part of Illinois’ digital economy today is driven by the transaction of user data in exchange for online services. With the rising rate of hacked websites and the proliferation of exposed personal data, consumers are growing less and less likely to extend their trust to online services out of fear.

In a recent poll conducted by Illinois Public Opinion Strategies, over 94% of Illinois residents disapprove of corporations collecting, sharing, or selling personal data without their consent and over 80% said they would use the Right to Know act to request the names of the companies that have obtained personal data.

If the consumer analytics industry stays on their current course, new startups executing on business plans involving consumer analytics will see their market eroded further as user trust disappears. Innovation in this sector will be diminished and Chicago’s burgeoning tech scene will be unable to compete with the already established giants in Silicon Valley and the rest of the world.

By encouraging transparency and trust between businesses and consumers, we can provide benefits to Chicago’s tech startups struggling to gain traction with their markets. When consumers know how and where their personal data is used in exchange for services online, their trust in that service increases and they share in a manner that’s beneficial to both themselves and the companies they share their information with.

We urge you to protect Illinois businesses and citizens at the same time, and we urge you to sign the Right to Know Act (SB1502, HB2774) and the Geolocation Privacy Protection Act (HB3449) into law.



Sincerely,