Goldstein: Data privacy proposals will hurt small businesses

Ten years ago I launched my own art brand My female-forward paintings prints cards and hand-painted flowerpots celebrate color confidence and empowerment in the face of challenges My goal is to connect with people who will find my work inspirational whether at local art markets through my online shop or on Instagram It s hardly a high-tech business and as a sole proprietor with an endless to-do list I find it complex to follow what s happening on Beacon Hill But that in the past few days changed when I learned that Massachusetts legislators are considering radical changes to how large and small companies find customers connect and grow their business including one of the bills being considered Senate Bill which could pass soon I deeply value privacy and believe in protecting people s largest part personal content But I worry that Massachusetts might go too far with rules that don t align with how figures powers the digital business activity The bills say businesses can only use customers records to provide specifically requested products or services That would make it nearly impossible for me to do much of the marketing that s vital to my business and use multiple of the services my digital partners like Instagram or Shopify provide For example if someone bought a print online I might like to email them to say I ve made greeting cards in the same design But the proposed laws mean I can t use evidence from their first purchase for anything other than providing their purchased items I value seeing repeat customers at art shows and making recommendations to them based on prior purchases Why would the same interaction be nefarious just because it happens online The proposed laws would also eliminate data-based marketing insights that are really valuable to small businesses like mine For example when I post on Instagram I can see how a great number of people saw my post and clicked through to my website and where they re from Those insights help me understand what kind of content and products my followers are interested in so I can pivot in what I m creating and make the the majority of my limited time However Instagram users do not request that their content be used to help businesses improve their products Without that input I d be flying blind Similarly my Shopify-powered website provides material showing how visitors arrived there whether through one of my Instagram posts an online search or an email link in my newsletter I can also see which pages people visited how long they stayed and what products they ve purchased I can t see any personal information just valuable trends in aggregated content that tell me a lot of valuable information What really worries me is that the bills also include a private right of action which means individuals could sue me for alleged data-privacy violations In the past that s opened small businesses to frivolous lawsuits filed by unprincipled lawyers that file massive lawsuits and offer quick settlements But even small settlements can have a big impact on business like mine with razor thin margins Lawmakers don t seem to understand how small businesses definitely use figures or how major it is to our success We re not spying on anyone Instead we re gathering data-based insights that help us grow test creative ideas and reach our target customers in my development art collectors Certain lawmakers say small businesses won t be affected by the new rules but that s absolutely not the matter Larger data-processing partners like Shopify and Instagram would have to comply so we d be impacted too At a time when we re already grappling with enormous economic uncertainty increased operating expenses and unpredictable tariffs the last thing we need is to lose data-powered digital tools that help us strengthen our connection with customers Erica Goldstein is the founder of Boston-based creative brand The Blank Canvas Company