Utah Privacy Bill Clears Senate; Other States Weigh Measures

The Utah Senate voted 28-0 Friday to pass a comprehensive privacy bill, about a week after it was introduced and with the legislature planning to adjourn at the end of this week. Industry supports SB-227, which is now in the House (see 2202240003). Nebraska Sen. Mike Flood (R) doesn’t expect his privacy bill (LB-1188) to advance from committee this year but hopes it starts a conversation, Flood told the unicameral legislature's Banking, Commerce and Insurance Committee at a livestreamed hearing Monday. LB-1188 is based on last year’s Uniform Law Commission proposal that hasn’t been implemented in any state, said Flood, acknowledging business and consumer privacy advocate concerns about his bill. Indiana’s Senate-passed SB-358 might have missed a Monday legislative deadline to pass Senate bills in the House. It wasn’t on that day's House calendar. In Washington state, the House Appropriations Committee was to weigh a sweeping amendment Monday -- with a proposed revision -- to HB-1850 that would make the law contingent on the Senate’s Washington Privacy Act (SB-5062) becoming law July 31, 2023. The panel didn’t vote by our deadline. HB-1850 as modified by amendments by Rep. Drew Hansen (D) would set up a state data privacy commission to enforce rules proposed in SB-5062, which regenerated last week (see 2202250017). The amended House bill would include a limited private right of action that would allow consumers to sue only after the commission determines a violation occurred and that the consumer suffered actual damages, meaning demonstrable economic loss or physical harm. Consumers would be able to sue only if the violator fails to comply with the commission's cease and desist order, the amendment said. The amendment also would tweak the proposed commission’s responsibilities and detail a proposed annual fee on processors and controllers. The surcharge would be 0.1% of intrastate gross operating revenue, capped at $10 million yearly. The American Civil Liberties Union, longtime opponent of the Senate privacy bill, is “very concerned that the proposed amendment to HB 1850 references a version of SB 5062 that has not yet been made available to the public,” and that the amended bill could let the privacy commission decide to reject a complaint in private, emailed Jennifer Lee, ACLU-Washington technology and liberty project manager.