A Maryland Democrat and state retailers rallied for a bill that would remove teeth from data minimization rules in the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act (MODPA) during a livestreamed hearing Tuesday. But consumer groups lambasted HB-1365, as they did shortly after it was introduced last month (see 2502100032), arguing that it would gut the privacy law that takes effect Oct. 1.
Washington state bills requiring privacy and AI transparency are apparently dead after missing a Friday cutoff to clear fiscal committees in the legislature. However, child privacy bills in the House and Senate cleared their respective fiscal committees in time.
Vermont Rep. Monique Priestley (D) criticized a comprehensive privacy bill introduced Thursday in the state Senate. Sen. Thomas Chittenden (D) introduced S-93 on the same day that the Senate Institutions Committee started walking through the Senate version (S-71) of Priestley’s previously introduced H-208, which also seeks a broad data privacy law (see 2502130013).
A Vermont Senate panel narrowed the scope of a kids code bill at a livestreamed meeting Thursday. The Institutions Committee then split 3-2 to clear S-69, with Republicans casting the no votes.
California-based Background Alert must shut down through 2028, or face a $50,000 fine for failing to register as a data broker and pay an annual fee, according to terms of a settlement with the California Privacy Protection Agency. CPPA, which announced the agreement Thursday, raised privacy concerns with the people-search company’s business model in its Wednesday order approving the settlement.
A video games industry lobbyist raised questions Thursday about Meta’s involvement in an Alabama child online safety bill requiring app stores to check users’ ages. However, at a livestreamed hearing, the Alabama Senate Children Committee supported SB-187, an app store age-verification bill spotted in several other states including Utah. The panel also cleared SB-186, requiring that phone and tablet manufacturers activate internet filters by default to protect kids.
A Vermont Senate panel weighed changes to an age-appropriate design code bill (S-69) at a meeting Wednesday. The Institutions Committee was scheduled to meet again about the bill Thursday.
The Connecticut Senate will vote on an AI bill by Sen. James Maroney (D) this year, as it did last year, declared President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (D) at a press conference ahead of a Wednesday hearing on SB-2. While Looney said passage of the bill is urgent, Connecticut's chief innovation officer told a hearing the state risks regulating too soon and getting it wrong.
Attorney General Anthony Brown (D) would lack the resources to enforce Maryland privacy laws without a proposed tax on data brokers that would fund a dedicated privacy team in his office, he said during a state House Economic Matters Committee hearing Tuesday. During a livestreamed session, the panel heard testimony on HB-1089, which would require that data brokers register with the state and, starting in the 2027 tax year, pay a 6% tax on gross income.
The Montana Senate voted 49-0 to pass substantive updates to the state’s comprehensive privacy law on Monday.