Committee reviews draft of 'Daniels Law' to let judges, law enforcement and allied workers block data-broker disclosures

The House Committee on Commerce & Economic Development on March 14 reviewed draft 1.3 of H.342, nicknamed the Daniels Law, a proposed statute that would let certain public officials, court staff, law enforcement and specified victim‑service and crisis workers ask commercial data brokers to stop disclosing protected personal information.

Legislative counsel Rick Sagle told the committee the draft largely retains the bill as introduced and highlights changes in a strike‑all amendment. “This is the Daniels Law Bill,” Sagle said as he opened his walkthrough of the revised text, and he read the federal cross‑reference used to define federal law enforcement officers, citing 18 U.S.C. §115.

The proposal would add federal law enforcement officers to the list of “covered persons,” expand coverage to include employees of the Vermont Human Rights Commission and employees of all state courts, and explicitly include victim advocates, mental‑health crisis workers and embedded crisis specialists working with the State Police, prosecutors’ offices and the Department of Corrections. Sagle said municipal employees are included elsewhere in the definitions and that immediate family members of covered persons remain in the protected class.

Why it matters

The bill would give covered persons a legal path to stop commercial re‑disclosure of certain personally identifying information held by data brokers. Under draft 1.3, a data broker that receives notice must cease disclosing the protected information within 15 days; if the broker continues to disclose after 30 days from notice, the covered person (or assignee) may bring a civil action in superior court. Remedies listed in…