Legislation that would amend the Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act passed the House unanimously Friday with a 99-0 vote, and now returns to the Senate with amendments. SB-297, sponsored by Sen. Daniel Zolnikov (R), would add child protections, halve the comprehensive privacy law’s 60-day right to cure, slash the legislation’s applicability thresholds and tighten exemptions (see 2502130054). Previously, the Senate unanimously passed updates to the law as well (see 2502240069).
Three amendments to a bill that would ban tech companies from collecting, retaining and disclosing minors' data, except in a few outlined situations, passed by a voice vote in the Arkansas House Aging, Children and Youth & Legislative Affairs Committee Monday. Rep. Zack Gramlich (R), one of the bill's sponsors, said the amendments served to clarify language and definitions in the bill.
Several Massachusetts Senate leaders announced in a release Monday that they've introduced a bill aimed at protecting reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare providers, patients, and advocates against a potentially hostile environment on the federal level and in other states. The bill "would protect the personal information of people who provide, receive, or support reproductive and gender-affirming care," the lawmakers said.
Civil society organizations were nearly excluded from a Maryland AI working group, the Electronic Privacy Information Center said Friday. However, consumer privacy advocates will get to join the group under the version of HB-956 that passed the Maryland General Assembly earlier this week, EPIC said.
Some Florida lawmakers aren’t hiding that they want “a backdoor into any end-to-end encrypted social media platforms that allow accounts for minors,” the Electronic Frontier Foundation blogged Friday.
A proposed expansion of Connecticut’s comprehensive privacy law “will make it difficult for companies to use consumer data responsibly to grow their business,” Connecticut business association CBIA warned Friday.
An Arkansas comprehensive privacy bill (SB-258) failed again to get enough votes to pass the Senate on Thursday.
A comprehensive privacy bill cleared the Oklahoma House Government Modernization and Technology Committee on an 8-0 vote Wednesday, despite the bill's sponsor admitting more work is needed.
An Arkansas comprehensive privacy bill nearly died Tuesday evening due to many state senators not voting for or against the measure on the floor.
Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal (D) doesn’t believe tech industry opposition can stop his bill to set civil penalties for big social media platforms that breach their “responsibility of ordinary care and skill” to children under 18, he said at an Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday. Also, Lowenthal disagreed with concerns that AB-2, moving in the Assembly after a court blocked California’s age-appropriate design code (see 2503140063), could lead to more litigation.