DATA PRIVACY

The Vermont Chamber is engaging with legislators to ensure a strong consumer privacy bill does not have unintended consequences for Vermont businesses. Legislators must focus on measures that prioritize prevention, remediation, and robust enforcement through our state’s legal frameworks and strengthening the Attorney General’s Office. Specifically, by empowering the Attorney General’s Office to fulfill its mission as the State’s top law enforcement agency with enhanced resources to enforce data privacy laws effectively, which offers a more direct and efficient path to protecting consumer interests without the collateral damage of rampant litigation placing undue strain on businesses and non-profits of all sizes.

Issue Updates

The Senate Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs Committee continues to show leadership in listening and responding to the concerns of Vermont businesses. Senators have made progress to remove the explicit private right of action, harmonize the bill with what is being done regionally, and add the important technical assistance for Vermont’s small businesses that the Vermont Chamber has been advocating for. Their version of the bill evolves from the House-passed version which would likely benefit litigators at the expense of small businesses, rather than create strong consumer protections with a path for Vermont business success. If amended, this would create a more equitable and effective data privacy bill.

Following strong advocacy by the Vermont Chamber, businesses, and others in recent weeks, the Senate Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs Committee has improved the bill to ensure strong consumer protections that do not put an undue burden on Vermont businesses.

The Vermont Chamber remains extremely concerned about the lack of business support in the bill amid a looming private right of action that could cause expensive litigation. A report by the Attorney General of California estimates the cost of compliance and implementation for a small to medium-sized business with the California version of data privacy could be between $50,000-$100,000. This would be a crushing price tag given the additional taxes Vermont businesses are being asked to shoulder this year.

A bill that could have significant implications for businesses was passed by the House. The Senate Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs Committee received a preview of the bill in anticipation of its passage and addressed the “elephant in the room” of the inclusion of a private right of action, which the Vermont Chamber and 13 other Vermont organizations have raised opposition to.

The House Commerce and Economic Development Committee continued its discussion on legislation that would regulate how businesses control and process personal data. This can be an important consumer protection tool but also has the potential to create confusion and challenging burdens in the marketplace.

A bill that could cause costly and superfluous lawsuits against businesses has been reintroduced. Last session’s bill was tabled due to legislator concerns with sweeping language that was largely unworkable. The Vermont Chamber is encouraging legislators to consider legislation passed in other states in which data privacy laws balance the protection of consumer privacy with manageable regulation of businesses.