Senate Institutions reviews S.69, a bill to curb online targeting of minors

The Senate Institutions Committee on Feb. 13 received a walkthrough of S.69, titled “protection of personal information and privacy of minors,” with Rick Siegel, legislative counsel, describing the bill’s definitions, default privacy settings, limits on algorithmic recommendations for minors, and enforcement mechanism.

The bill sets detailed definitions for terms such as “covered business,” “covered minor” (an individual under 18), “biometric data,” “neural data,” “precise geolocation data” and “algorithmic recommendation system.” Siegel characterized S.69 as “a very technical bill” and said much of the language came from multiple stakeholder groups that will testify in committee.

S.69 would apply to a business that conducts activity in Vermont and whose online products, services or features are reasonably likely to be accessed by a minor and that collects consumer personal data or has consumer personal data collected on its behalf. The bill excludes state, federal and local government entities in the ordinary course of their operations, HIPAA-covered protected health information processed by covered entities or business associates, certain public-health activities, and journalistic organizations that meet the bill’s workforce test.

Key provisions laid out in the walkthrough include: default privacy settings for accounts identified as belonging to minors (for…