House committee reviews draft amendment to limit data-broker disclosures, weigh AG enforcement and study of government records

House members considered draft 2.2 of an amendment to a data-broker bill Thursday, focusing on how covered people would notify data brokers, which state office would host the notice form, enforcement paths and a planned study on whether state and municipal records should be included.

The committee discussed two enforcement tracks: the Attorney General could investigate and assess civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, and individual “covered persons” could pursue a private right of action that provides actual damages or a statutory award of $1,000 per violation (whichever is greater), plus attorney fees and other equitable relief. Committee staff described a 15-day compliance window after a broker receives notice; if a broker removes the information within that window and is later sued, the broker would be limited to paying only reasonable attorney fees and court costs rather than statutory damages. The draft delays private lawsuits until Jan. 1, 2026, while giving the AG authority to begin enforcement on July 1, 2025.

Why it matters: the amendment would give Vermonters defined remedies when companies that assemble and sell personal data fail to stop redisclosure after being formally notified. Committee members pressed staff and agency witnesses on how the law would work in practice, how verification should be handled, where fines would be deposited, and whether including state and local government records in the law could produce unintended conflicts with existing public-records and licensing statutes.

Key details and debate

Committee staff told members that the amendment moves the notice form from the Secretary of State to the Attorney General’s office. The draft creates two penalty tracks: (1) AG enforcement with rulemaking and civil-investigation authority under Chapter 63 (consumer-protection authority was cited by staff as the statutory basis); and (2) a private right of action that allows a…