James P. Steyer Virginia is poised to become the second state in the nation to pass a broad consumer privacy bill. Virginiaâs Consumer Data Protection Act has passed through the General Assembly and the governor is expected to sign it any day. The billâs patron insists the law will give individuals control over their digital data, restoring trust in technologies and data-driven companies that have been irresponsible with peopleâs privacy. Itâs a noble aim, but efforts to regulate how companies collect and use data is notoriously complicated. Common Sense was on the frontlines in California, working to pass its landmark privacy law in 2018 and a ballot initiative last November that strengthened that law. We have seen firsthand how tech companies fight tooth and nail to defeat anything that would change their business practices and then find ways to sneak around and slip away from following the law once anything is passed.