Multiple state attorneys general signaled that they will flex their privacy enforcement muscles in the wake of President Donald Trump's Tuesday firing of Democratic FTC Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter. Privacy experts said the development raises new concerns about the fate of trans-Atlantic personal data transfers and the legitimacy of potential FTC rulemaking decisions.
A West Virginia comprehensive privacy bill cleared the House Energy Committee at a livestreamed markup Tuesday. Without any discussion, members voted by voice to send HB-2987 to the Judiciary Committee.
Legislators from other states have told Vermont Rep. Monique Priestley (D) that they'd like to see someone enact a comprehensive privacy law with a private right of action (PRA), Priestley said in a livestreamed interview Tuesday with Daniel Solove, a George Washington University Law School professor.
A Pennsylvania House Committee teed up a potentially imminent floor vote on a comprehensive privacy bill. The Commerce Committee voted unanimously by voice Tuesday to advance HB-78 to the floor. At a livestreamed meeting, the committee also adopted by voice an amendment to delay by six months the proposed effective date to one year after it’s enacted.
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey (D) raised privacy concerns Monday concerning a social media bill requiring age verification. Maine’s joint Judiciary Committee received testimony on LD-844, which would require age verification and ban accounts for kids younger than 14, while allowing them for 14- and 15-year-olds with parental consent (see 2503060022).
Kentucky tweaked its comprehensive privacy law to flesh out an exemption for data subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Gov. Andy Beshear (D) signed the amendment (HB-473) to the 2024 privacy law Saturday after it passed the legislature unanimously (see 2503130017).
The Massachusetts Senate will try to reach consensus on comprehensive privacy legislation this spring, two state senators told us. Privacy Daily has counted eight comprehensive privacy bills so far in the Massachusetts legislature, with four apiece in the House and the Senate.
As the Vermont Senate Institutions Committee cleared a comprehensive privacy bill (S-71) in a 5-0 vote Friday, Chair Wendy Harrison (D) reminded colleagues that the legislature is in the “middle of the process.” A day earlier, the panel replaced the legislation's language with that of an industry-favored bill (S-93), which consumer privacy advocates have called weak (see 2503130053).
Washington state senators voted 36-12 Wednesday for a kids privacy bill (SB-5708).
A healthcare tweak to Kentucky’s comprehensive privacy law passed the legislature. Gov. Andy Beshear (D) will consider the bill next.