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.
Having thorough and understandable guidelines for highly organized data storage is key in data minimization, which saves money in the long run, said a panel of privacy experts during a HaystackID webinar Wednesday on data minimization.
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.
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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 FTC would work productively with state attorneys general on privacy enforcement if Congress granted the authority in a federal privacy law, FTC nominee Mark Meador told the Senate Commerce Committee during his confirmation hearing Tuesday.
House Commerce Committee Republicans on Friday requested public input on potential federal privacy legislation. The elimination of a private right of action, preemption of state privacy and AI laws and conflicts with existing federal law were among the topics Republicans outlined in their request for information (RFI).
New Mexico lawmakers are weighing whether to join states like Washington and New York in passing health data privacy bills. The New Mexico House Health Committee voted 5-4, with Republicans voting no, to narrowly advance HB-430 at a livestreamed hearing Monday. Increased urgency in some states to protect reproductive health data privacy since President Donald Trump returned to the White House has driven interest in such legislation (see 2502210015).
Despite the Illinois legislature passing an amendment aimed at clarifying the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) last year, confusion remains about whether the measure applies retroactively, leaving pending cases in limbo that may take years to resolve, privacy lawyers said.
It’s unclear if fired Democratic members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board will be reinstated, but recent legal success against the Trump administration is encouraging, newly dismissed PCLOB member Travis LeBlanc said Friday (see 2502110062).