The Nation's First Data Broker Regulation

From World Privacy Forum (5-24-18):

Historic Data Broker Regulation in the United States Welcomed by World Privacy Forum

• Vermont: First state to adopt modern rules for unregulated data brokers
• WPF call for data broker protections to be elevated to national level and provided for consumers in all states in the US

Oregon, United States: The state of Vermont has passed the nation’s first data broker regulation, H764, ‘An Act Relating to Data Brokers and Consumer Protection’. The news has been welcomed by privacy and data protection champions, The World Privacy Forum today.

The World Privacy Forum have campaigned tirelessly over the last seven years to bring attention to the vulnerabilities and gaps in consumer protection law in relation to data brokers. Pam Dixon, founder of the organisation, who has provided several testimonies to the US Congress, including the US Senate Commerce Committee, believes this overdue legislation will go a long way to protecting consumers from often unscrupulous practices.

“I’ve seen first-hand the profound harms data brokers can create in peoples’ lives, and this legislation is the first of its kind in the nation to respond to the problem,” said World Privacy Forum Executive Director Pam Dixon.

“The legislation provides new protections for consumers and is a historically important piece of privacy legislation.”

The new law provides important new consumer protections:

• Data brokers will be required to register in the state of Vermont
• The law expressly prohibits the acquisition of personal information with the intent to commit wrongful acts such as stalking, harassment, fraud, identity theft, or discrimination [emphasis added]

To read the report in its entirety, click HERE.