Committee begins detailed walkthrough of S.71, a consumer data privacy and online surveillance bill

On Thursday, Feb. 27, the Senate Committee on Institutions and IT began a section‑by‑section walkthrough of S.71, described in committee as "an act relating to consumer data privacy and online surveillance." The committee heard extended explanation from its counsel of the bill’s definitions, consumer rights, exemptions and compliance mechanics.

Rick Sable, Office of Legislative Counsel, said the bill tracks many features in other state privacy laws while proposing a specific set of thresholds and carveouts for Vermont. "When you see the states that have this and which ones have decided to include a right to correct or right to delete...this bill has most of the consumer protections," Sable said, summarizing the bill’s components.

Sable and committee staff highlighted several central features of S.71 as introduced:

- Applicability thresholds: a person is covered if the person conducts business in Vermont or targets Vermont consumers and (a) controls or processes personal data of 25,000 or more Vermont consumers in the prior calendar year (excluding data processed solely to complete payment transactions), or (b) controls or processes personal data of at least 12,500 Vermont consumers and derives more than…