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In addition to the comprehensive state privacy laws that took effect in 2023, state legislatures have continued to pass new comprehensive privacy laws protecting consumers’ personal data. Five state laws took effect through 2023, three additional broadly applicable laws will take effect this year, eight will become effective in 2025, and three more states have enacted laws set to take effect in 2026. In the years to come, additional states will almost certainly enact legislation to protect their residents’ personal information.
Despite digital privacy concerns making national headlines, the United States remains without a federal omnibus privacy law. In June 2024, a sprawling federal privacy bill (H.R.8818 - American Privacy Rights Act) was formally introduced, aiming to standardize privacy laws across the nation. However, experts are skeptical of its success. Drawing parallels to a somewhat similar bill that stalled in the US Senate in 2022, the bill was pulled from a June 27 markup over concerns among some members of US Congress to certain aspects of the bill, such as the private right of action. Consequently, as we saw with data breach notification legislation, state laws will continue to proliferate until Congress passes a preemptive bill that the President signs into law.
Managing compliance in the ever-growing digital privacy landscape is challenging. The first step is as simple as assessing whether a given state’s law applies to your business. If applicable, there are common consumer rights that each law includes, such as the right to access, correct, erase, and retrieve personal information. However, there are also distinct features that add complexity to compliance. The following is a brief (not-exhaustive) overview of the applicability and notable features of the state privacy bills taking effect in 2024.
