State lawmakers take another crack at protecting consumer data privacy
For the third time since 2019, the Washington state Legislature will consider a consumer data privacy act.
The Washington Privacy Act, or Senate Bill 5062, faced a public hearing before the Senate Environment, Energy and Technology Committee last week, and it will face a committee executive session Thursday. State Sen. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, pre-filed the bill on Jan. 5.
The Washington Privacy Act would allow consumers to access, delete and correct their personal data, as well as opt out of having their data sold for advertising. The legislation would affect companies that do business in Washington and process the data of at least 100,000 consumers in a year. It also applies to companies that make over 25% of their revenue from processing data and process the data of at least 25,000 consumers.
Last year the data privacy bill passed the Senate but was amended in the House to allow private right of action by consumers, whereas the Senate version wanted enforcement from the state attorney general. After this friction point torpedoed the bill last year, supporters of the bill are hoping added support from the attorney general will help Washington finally pass a privacy act this year.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2021/01/20/wpa-wtia-state-legislature.html