Maryland

Keypoint: Maryland’s bill diverges from other Washington Privacy Act variants passed to date with unique data minimization, sensitive data, minor’s data privacy, and unlawful discrimination provisions (among others).

On April 6, 2024, the Maryland legislature passed the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act of 2024 (MODPA) (SB 541). A companion House bill (HB 567) also appears likely to pass before the legislature closes on April 8. Subject to the procedural formalities in the legislature, the bills will next head to Maryland Governor Wes Moore for consideration.

Assuming MODPA becomes law, Maryland will become the sixteenth state to pass broad consumer data privacy legislation. However, Maryland will be the first state to pass a Washington Privacy Act variant that contains unique provisions regarding data minimization, sensitive data, minor’s data privacy, and unlawful discrimination – among other provisions. In doing so, Maryland injects a new wrinkle into the state privacy law debate much like Washington did with last year’s My Health My Data Act. MODPA also contains a low threshold for applicability such that even smaller companies may need to comply with its provisions.

The below article analyzes MODPA’s contours, including some of its more notable provisions and deviations. We also have added MODPA to our chart providing a detailed comparison of the laws enacted to date. It should be noted that – as of the date of this article – the bills available on the legislature’s website have not yet been updated to reflect the final amendments although we have included those amendments in our analysis.

The Maryland legislature also passed Age-Appropriate Design Code Act companion bills (SB 571 / HB 603). We will provide a separate article analyzing those bills.

UPDATE: The below post discusses whether the Washington Privacy Act is still alive notwithstanding that the House failed to pass the bill prior to the April 11 deadline. In a tweet, bill sponsor Reuven Carlyle stated: “The bill remains alive through the end of the Legislative Session.”

Keypoint: This week bills in Florida and Connecticut continued to progress, the Washington Privacy Act failed to get out of the House at the deadline, and bills in Oklahoma and West Virginia died.

Below is our seventh weekly update on the status of proposed CCPA-like privacy legislation. Before we get to our update, we wanted to provide two reminders.

First, we have been regularly updating our 2021 State Privacy Law Tracker to keep pace with the latest developments. We encourage you to bookmark the page for easy reference.

Second, the contents provided below are time-sensitive and subject to change. If you are not already subscribed to our blog, consider doing so to stay updated.

Keypoint: It was another busy week with developments in Washington, Florida, Oklahoma, Alaska, Nevada, and Rhode Island.

For the sixth week in a row, we are providing an update on the status of proposed CCPA-like privacy legislation. Before we get to our update, we wanted to provide three notes.

First, we are pleased to announce the results of our poll on whether to call Virginia’s new privacy law – the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act – the CDPA or VCDPA. By an overwhelming 85-15% margin readers prefer VCDPA to CDPA.

Second, we have been regularly updating our 2021 State Privacy Law Tracker to keep pace with the latest developments. We encourage you to bookmark the page for easy reference.

Third, the contents provided below are time-sensitive and subject to change. If you are not already subscribed to our blog, consider doing so to stay updated.

Keypoint: There were a number of notable developments this week: the Washington Privacy Act passed out of a house committee after adding a private right of action, there was more movement on the Florida and Connecticut bills, and Nevada lawmakers introduced companion bills that would expand the state’s right to opt out of sales.

For the fifth week in a row, we are providing an update on the status of proposed CCPA-like privacy legislation. Before we get to our update, we wanted to provide three reminders.

First, there has been so much debate about what to call Virginia’s new privacy law – the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act – that we started an online poll. Tell us whether you think the law should be called the CDPA or VCPDA. We will keep voting open until April 2 and release the results on our blog.

Second, we have been regularly updating our 2021 State Privacy Law Tracker to keep pace with the latest developments. We encourage you to bookmark the page for easy reference.

Third, the contents provided below are time-sensitive and subject to change. If you are not already subscribed to our blog, consider doing so to stay updated.

Keypoint: It was another busy week with bills introduced in Colorado, New York and West Virginia, a committee hearing in New Jersey on three bills, a public hearing in Washington on the Washington Privacy Act, the Oklahoma bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary committee, one Florida bill passed out of committee, and a hearing was set on the other Florida bill.

For the fourth week in a row, we are providing an update on the status of proposed CCPA-like privacy legislation. Before we get to our update, we wanted to provide three reminders.

First, there has been so much debate about what to call Virginia’s new privacy law – the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act – that we started an online poll. Tell us whether you think the law should be called the CDPA or VCPDA. We will keep voting open until April 2 and release the results on our blog.

Second, we have been regularly updating our 2021 State Privacy Law Tracker to keep pace with the latest developments. We encourage you to bookmark the page for easy reference.

Third, the contents provided below are time-sensitive and subject to change. If you are not already subscribed to our blog, consider doing so to stay updated.

Keypoint: There were four notable developments this week: the Florida House passed a bill out of committee, lawmakers proposed a new bill in Texas, the Washington Privacy Act was  scheduled for a public hearing and committee session on March 17 and 19, respectively, and the Illinois Right to Know Act was scheduled for a March 19 hearing in the Cybersecurity, Data Analytics & IT Committee.

For the third week in a row, we are providing an update on the status of proposed CCPA-like privacy legislation. Before we get to our update, we wanted to provide three reminders.

First, we hosted a webinar on Virginia’s Consumer Data Protection Act on March 11. You can access the recording here.

Second, we have been regularly updating our 2021 State Privacy Law Tracker to keep pace with the latest developments. We encourage you to bookmark the page for easy reference.

Third, the contents provided below are time-sensitive and subject to change. If you are not already subscribed to our blog, consider doing so to stay updated.

Keypoint: It was a busy week for privacy law. Since the update we provided last week Virginia’s bill was signed into law, bills in Washington and Oklahoma advanced, and Utah’s bill failed to pass before its legislative session closed.

Last week, we provided an update on the status of proposed CCPA-like privacy legislation. In that article, we noted that the contents were “time-sensitive and subject to change.” Typical to privacy law, in just a week, the landscape of these proposed laws changed dramatically. Given these changes, we decided to publish another update and, like last week, waited until a weekend when state legislatures are quiet.

Before we get to our update, we wanted to provide three reminders.

First, we will be hosting a webinar on Virginia’s Consumer Data Protection Act on March 11. You can register for the webinar here. If you are unable to attend the webinar live, you can still register, and we will email a copy of the presentation and a link to the webinar recording to you.

Second, we have been regularly updating our 2021 State Privacy Law Tracker to keep pace with the latest developments. We encourage you to bookmark the page for easy reference.

Third, the contents provided below are time-sensitive and subject to change. If you are not already subscribed to our blog, consider doing so to stay updated.

Keypoint: CCPA-like privacy bills continue to be introduced and work their way through state legislatures.

Those who attended our recent webinar or who subscribe to this blog know that we have been closely tracking proposed CCPA-like legislation in state legislatures across the country. We also launched a 2021 State Privacy Law Tracker to keep pace with the latest developments.

Yet, even with these efforts, there still are numerous developments occurring on a near daily basis. Therefore, we decided to wait until a weekend (when state legislatures are quiet) to provide a summary of where these bills stand. Of course, the contents provided below are time-sensitive and subject to change.

Conceptual image about how a laptop computer with internet open a virtual door to worldwide information sharing.Keypoint: Maryland lawmakers have introduced a bill that would allow Maryland residents to opt-out of certain types of personal information transfers but that would stop far short of creating CCPA-like rights for Maryland residents.

On January 17, 2020, Maryland House Delegates Courtney Watson and Ned Carey introduced HB0249. If enacted in its current form, the bill would allow Maryland residents to opt-out of certain types of transfers of their personal information to third parties. However, it would not create other CCPA-like privacy rights such as the right to deletion and would not require businesses to make disclosures regarding their privacy practices.

Maryland joins a growing list of states considering consumer privacy legislation, including Florida, Illinois, Virginia, Washington state, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Hawaii. Members of Husch Blackwell’s privacy and data security practice group will be hosting a webinar on February 4 at noon CST to discuss these proposed laws and to provide an update on the CCPA. To register, click here.

Below is our analysis of the Maryland legislation (as introduced).