
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.