Senate Democrats’ neural data legislation includes broader definitions than existing state measures, Davis Wright Tremaine attorneys said Wednesday.
Biometric Privacy
Biometric privacy laws regulate how companies handle sensitive personal identifiers like facial scans, fingerprints and voiceprints. In the U.S., Illinois’ BIPA has led to landmark litigation and multimillion-dollar settlements, setting a precedent for consent, data retention and security standards. Other states and countries are following suit with their own biometric requirements. This page covers key lawsuits, regulatory action and compliance best practices in the biometrics space.
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Senate Democrats’ effort to regulate handling of neural data mirrors the state law trend seen in Colorado, California, Montana and Connecticut, Covington noted in a post Friday.
A comprehensive privacy bill passed the Pennsylvania House with "noteworthy" applicability thresholds and categories of sensitive data, a Philadelphia-based privacy attorney said Thursday. The state House also passed a bill Wednesday that would add a private right of action to the state’s data breach notification law.
New privacy regulations took effect in Maryland and various other states on Wednesday. Read our coverage of the new requirements, including:
Montana became the third state to regulate neural data as an amendment to the state’s genetic privacy law took effect Wednesday, adding to a trend of states overseeing the neurotechnology space (see 2508180034). On the same day, amendments to Montana’s comprehensive privacy law took effect, expanding its scope and introducing more protections for children.
The Trump administration’s creation of large government databases consolidating the sensitive personal information of millions of Americans in an attempt to purge voter rolls is unlawful, according to a class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), League of Women Voters and others.
Uncommon and broadly applicable data minimization requirements in the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act (MODPA) could pose major compliance challenges for companies when the law takes effect Wednesday, privacy attorneys representing businesses said in interviews. Some advertisers could opt out of the Maryland market rather than comply with the state's comprehensive privacy law, said David LeDuc, Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) public policy vice president.
The FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) unanimously approved a report Thursday on “best practices” for the FCC and industry on the ethical and practical use of AI and machine learning (ML). The report, which examines privacy and new risks for telecom networks, wasn’t released Thursday.
Even without a private right of action, a Massachusetts comprehensive privacy bill nearing a Senate floor vote could still be the strongest of about 20 states with such laws, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Deputy Director Caitriona Fitzgerald said in an interview Friday. While legislators previously cut the right for individuals to sue -- limiting enforcement authority to the Massachusetts’ attorney general -- they kept data minimization requirements like those from Maryland’s privacy law.