Vermont Privacy Bill Author 'All Ears' on How to Do a Private Right of Action
Vermont Rep. Monique Priestley (D) is “more than happy” to hash out how to break through a strong industry wall against including a private right of action in privacy legislation, she said Sunday in response to a blog post by Don Marti, the founder of a yet-to-be-named services firm for post-surveillance brands. Priestley is the sponsor of a comprehensive bill with a PRA, but lawmakers punted it in 2025 (see 2505300047).
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Marti wrote that “a state in possession of an honest legislature must be in want of a privacy law with a private right of action.” The AG “can’t be everywhere, and a typical jury is going to have more common sense about privacy stuff, and redressing privacy harms, than state bureaucrats trapped in a high-CO2 office building. But too often, when people say private right of action what business owners hear is private right of action over bullshit paperwork or private right of action over JavaScript mistakes.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” said Marti. “We can have private right of action without statutory damages for bugs, bullshit, or failing to hire the right compliance consultant.” A PRA would be especially helpful for claims of concrete injuries and failures to disclose data or inferences when consumers exercise their right to know, he said.
Priestley agrees “on the honest legislature part, but I can make all of the changes in the world and still be completely stonewalled,” the author of Vermont privacy legislation wrote on LinkedIn. “I’m not sure how we have good faith conversations to settle details if we don’t have honest lobbyists, who are instead paid to muddy the waters and scare the public (read as small- to medium-sized businesses who are members of trade associations).”
“Even the corporate folks who offer to talk through bill language will never chat through a PRA for fear of anyone learning that they explored it with me,” added Priestley. “If there are any legal experts out there who agree with Don Marti’s latest piece and want to have an honest conversation about how we get there, I’m all ears.”