Massachusetts State Senator
Pictures from the Waltham Land Trust’s newest addition: a very beautiful plot of land next to Hardy Pond designated for conservation and recreation. I joined Sonja Wadman and other WLT leaders to celebrate the purchase. Photo credit: Sonja Wadman.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
In a unanimous vote, the State Senate passed legislation that, according to local State Senator Mike Barrett, marks a key step in curbing the ability of private companies to gather and sell people’s personal information.
The bill establishes the right for Massachusetts residents to know what information of theirs is being collected. And it enables them to opt out of having their data sold to other companies or used for targeted advertising.
“I’m besieged, as others are, with constant requests to let an online vendor know my exact location,” Barrett said. “It’s unclear to me why they need this information or what other data they’re collecting. The bill adds important checks on the information these businesses can gather.”
Also included in the legislation: guardrails to prevent companies from collecting certain sensitive data unless strictly necessary and a ban on the sale of any sensitive data that is collected. Protected data includes health care information; face scans and fingerprints; precise geolocation; information about a person’s religion or ethnicity; information related to a person’s immigration status; and personal information of children. The Senate included additional protections for minors, including a full ban on the sale of young people’s data.
During debate on the floor, Senators also adopted an amendment that extends the ban on sales of geolocation data to cover anyone who visits Massachusetts for any reason, including travel to the state for health and abortion-related care.
“We closed a loophole that would have left visitors to Massachusetts vulnerable,” Barrett said. “This is about protecting people who live in states where health care is under siege.”
Having passed the Senate, the legislation now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration.
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Just unveiled in Lexington: a new exhibit featuring three Black Patriots who fought in the American Revolution. The animated videos tell the stories of Prince Estabrook and Eli Burdoo, who each fought in the Battle of Lexington, and Pompey Fiske, who witnessed the battle and later enlisted in the Continental Army. Shoutout to Sean Osborne and the Lexington Visitors Center for bringing their stories to life.
Credit to the Town of Lexington for the photos.
Pictures from the Concord Democratic Town Committee’s September meeting, for which I was the featured speaker. Topics of discussion included immigration, data privacy, and climate change.
For the third time in four years, Lexington High School has taken gold at the National Conservation Foundation’s annual Envirothon. This year’s competition focused on ways to manage forest ecosystems impacted by climate change. Over the course of a week, students completed a series of exams and delivered presentations to a panel of professionals. Impressive stuff. Congratulations to the Lexington team: Jocelyn Chen, Caroline Ehmann, Tomer Elkayam, Eileen Ho, and Erin Suh.
Given a big job, the Special Commission on State Institutions has re-opened a long-neglected inquiry into Massachusetts facilities for people with mental health issues or intellectual or developmental disabilities. Its report examines the barriers that persist today for members of the public — including relatives and researchers — who have tried and failed to access the records of people who lived and died there.
Good piece from the Globe Editorial Board, who advocate for legislation like the bill I’ve filed that would open these records to the public.
George Pappas, an experienced immigration lawyer and a PhD in philosophy to boot, accepted an appointment to a judgeship in a federal Immigration Court in Massachusetts. A resident of North Carolina, he and his wife began a long-distance relationship so he could take the post. Now he and a raft of his colleagues in immigration courts across the country have been summarily dismissed.
Pappas told the Lowell Sun, “Many of us uprooted from far away places to do this job. Some people bought a house, integrated their family, and then they got fired. They had a mortgage to pay, they have family here, and this has happened across the country. Many of us have relocated to become judges from different places and we’re just thrust out onto the street.”
Pappas will land on his feet. He’ll move back home and resume his private practice. But the federal court in which he served, located in my district, in Chelmsford, may not be as resilient. Once home to 18 judges, by the end of August it will be down to 6. The backlog of unresolved cases is, predictably, exploding.
Courtesy of his long reach from Washington, immigration czar Stephen Miller is disappearing due process. Who knew you could kidnap the Constitution? Thank you, Lorena Betts of Chelmsford Connected, for setting up the conversation with Judge Pappas before he returns to North Carolina and we lose him.
