Massachusetts votes to pass new privacy rights bill that bans sale of precise location data
Massachusetts lawmakers have voted to pass privacy protections that grant the stateās residents new rights over accessing and deleting their data held by big tech
Massachusetts lawmakers have voted to pass privacy protections that grant the stateās residents new rights over accessing and deleting their data held by big tech giants. The bill also bans companies from selling their usersā precise location data. Lawmakers in the Massachusetts House passed the stateās Consumer Data Privacy Act in a unanimous 146-0 vote on Thursday, months after all of the Senateās 40 lawmakers voted in favor of advancing its own bill in September. Now, the bills will be combined in the Senate, and sent to the state governorās office, where it is expected to be signed into law. Itās not immediately clear when that will happen. The move makes Massachusetts the latest U.S. state to push for stronger consumer privacy rights after years of documented abuses by the wider technology, and social media industries.
While the United States does not have a nationwide privacy law, unlike many of the worldās major democracies, U.S. states have filled the void of legislation by bringing their own patchwork of privacy rules that apply to their states. The bill, if passed into law, will apply to companies that handle or process the personal data of more than 100,000 consumers. It will largely affect medium-sized startups as well as Silicon Valley technology titans. The law would block the sharing or sale of sensitive information without a userās explicit consent. This data includes biometrics (such as health data, genetic information, and fingerprints), their precise geolocation data, and other markers about their religion, immigration status and sexual orientation. The collection and sale of peopleās location data has been a major flashpoint in privacy debates for years.
Data brokers have for years relied on app developers selling their usersā location data to repackage and sell it to anyone who can pay, including stalkers, governments and militaries. In many cases, the government says it does not need a warrant to purchase data thatās commercially available on the open marketplace. The Biden administration came close to banning the sale of sensitive Americansā data at the federal level, but the Trump government has since scrapped the change. By applying the location data ban to both residents and visitors, the Massachusetts law will effectively blanket ban the sale of location data across the state. The bill is anticipated to have a broad effect on startups that collect, share and sell location data in Massachusetts, as well as companies that use location data to target people with.
