Despite the short session, Virginia legislators could vote Friday to pass a comprehensive privacy bill modeled after Washington state’s proposal.
Industry stakeholders believe the lack of debate to include a private right of action, which Virginia’s bill doesn’t have, is the main item contributing to its speedy passage.
For years, U.S. lawmakers looking to craft their own privacy bills have only had two models to follow: the California Consumer Privacy Act and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation.
But if all goes as expected in Virginia this month, the state could soon provide another blueprint that industry stakeholders, especially, would prefer to see replicated in other states and on the federal level.
Update, February 5, 2021: Senate Bill 1392 has been passed in the Virginia Senate. As noted, an identical companion bill previously was passed by the House of Delegates. If Governor.
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While 2020 has been anything but expected, cybersecurity and data privacy have dominated the conversation, as consumers and governments began to demand more from organizations that collect personal information. In less than 12 months, the business environment has drastically changed in response to Covid-19. More people than ever are working from home, with some never going back to the office, and yet, at the same time, regulatory compliance to data privacy laws continues to decline. An alarming trend not just for a chief information security officer (CISO) or compliance officer, but for all parties involved as we continue to live more of our lives behind a screen.
Highlights
Virginia appears poised to enact consumer privacy legislation by the end of the month, although the law would not be effective until Jan. 1, 2023.
The absence of a private right of action earned the bill broad support in both houses of the Virginia Assembly.
The state s Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA) would grant Virginia residents General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)-style rights of access, correction, deletion, to opt out of processing for certain purposes and to obtain copies of their personal data.
Additional states, including New York and Washington, could follow suit later this year.
Virginia seemingly came out of nowhere on the consumer privacy front and now appears to be just days away from becoming the second state in the nation, behind California, to pass comprehensive consumer privacy legislation.
Data Governance Trends: Predictions, pitfalls, and technologies for the future of digital work
The demands on data governance leaders have been intensifying for the past several years. There are numerous reasons for this.
First, there is more and more data straddling edge, on-premises and multiple cloud environments. Second, business users clamoring for consumerlike, self-service models of accessing data (anytime, anywhere). Third, regulations like the EU’s GDPR and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which have increased accountability and urgency. Fourth, an explosion of new opportunities to interpret and apply large amounts of data (fueled by digitalization and AI).
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