In an apparent win for industry, the Vermont Senate Institutions Committee voted 5-0 Thursday to replace the text of a comprehensive privacy bill (S-71) with that of S-93. S-93, which the Vermont Chamber of Commerce and other business groups preferred, lacks a private right of action and is much like Connecticut's privacy law.

LONDON -- With the rule of law and protection of individuals trending as issues in Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere, it's important to have data protection authorities ensuring that fundamental rights are respected, Hielke Hijmans, litigation chamber president of the Belgian Data Protection Authority, said Wednesday.

LONDON -- How companies handle people's "digital remains" is one of the most pressing privacy issues of this century, Carl Ohman, Uppsala University (Sweden) political science professor, said Wednesday at the IAPP Data Protection Intensive UK conference.

The FTC’s proposed rule under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) includes some concerning language related to “indefinite” data retention, Commissioner Melissa Holyoak said Wednesday.

Honda agreed to pay $632,500 and change various privacy practices as part of a settlement with the California Privacy Protection Agency announced Wednesday. The CPPA board decided Friday to approve a settlement resolving the privacy agency's claims that the car manufacturer’s North American subsidiary violated the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The significant order shows the agency ramping up enforcement of the CPPA, said privacy attorneys.

Privacy Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week, in case you missed them. All articles can be found by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

Vermont lawmakers weighed the need for a bill protecting the sensitive information of certain public servants at a House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday. Some questioned if the bill (H-342) is necessary, while others asked whether it would lead to excessive lawsuits.

Legislation that would allow individuals to sue tech platforms for hosting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) increases privacy protections for victims, Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Tuesday.

Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark (D) pressed her case for including a private right of action (PRA) in a proposed comprehensive state privacy law (S-71) at a Senate Institutions Committee hearing livestreamed Tuesday. However, a Republican committee member and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce pushed back against allowing individuals to sue. The Chamber witnesses urged lawmakers to instead pass a rival bill (S-93) to more closely align Vermont with privacy laws in other New England states.

New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) on Monday announced a lawsuit against Allstate and its subsidiary National General for not protecting personal information from cyberattacks, and violating the state’s breach notification law. While James noted that the insurance companies' internal cyber defenses were inadequate, she said the broader cause was their choice of prioritizing profit over safety.