The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated our reliance on digital services and platforms, which brings new challenges and expectations for data privacy. But, to date, there has been little movement towards all-encompassing federal privacy legislation. Therefore, the issue of consumer data privacy has been left to the states to decide. During 2021, 23 states introduced some form of all-encompassing data privacy legislation to address the absence of federal privacy laws, with only two becoming law: Virginia and Colorado.
This Review is the first in a four-part series that will explore the proposed 2021 state privacy legislation, each of the Virginia and Colorado laws, and recent changes to the California Consumer Privacy Act stemming from changes mandated by California voters. This Review examines significant developments affecting companies as they navigate the ever-evolving data privacy landscape.
The 23 states that introduced privacy legislation this year are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia. Several of these states, including New York and Washington, had multiple bills addressing privacy submitted to committee, some were companion bills and some were competing.
Because so many bills remained in process, it is not certain what specific requirements will...
A Wixom, Michigan, business accused of making false statements to obtain a loan has agreed to pay a settlement of just over $1.5 million after it was sued by the federal government, according to th...