California Senate approves Internet privacy measure State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), shown during a floor debate earlier this week, authored a measure to enhance privacy protections for Internet consumers. Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press / January 28, 2014 By Patrick McGreevy January 30, 2014, 11:46 a.m. SACRAMENTO -- Californians routinely use their credit cards to buy songs and videos on the Internet, so a worried state Senate on Thursday approved a measure to protect consumers" information from being misused. Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) proposed SB 383 in response to cases in which hackers have been able to steal the personal financial information of millions of credit card users. Her measure would limit online merchants to collecting personal information from consumers only if it is necessary to combat identity theft. The bill also bars merchants from selling the personal information or using it for marketing purposes. It also mandates that merchants destroy the personal information when it is no longer needed. Opponents called the bill overreaching and said it would jeopardize fraud prevention efforts dependent on personally identifiable information. Ron Unz reemerges as champion of minimum-wage hike California Senate approves bills on voter registration, guns Senate supports review of California gambling industry, related taxes