Lawmakers hear bill limiting states access to third-party personal data; sponsors say it complements private-sector disclosure controls

The committee also heard House Bill 522, which would limit when a New Hampshire governmental entity may acquire, collect, retain or use personal information about state residents from third-party providers of information and services. Representative Lynn introduced H.B. 522 as a companion to House Bill 195; while H.B. 195 addresses private-sector disclosure rules, H.B. 522 would specify when government may obtain the same categories of third-party personal data.

Representative Lynn and supporters said H.B. 522 is tailored with a broad set of exceptions to avoid impeding essential government functions. The draft would allow government access where required for regulatory, investigative, adjudicatory or administrative functions, for public-health and safety, for eligibility and benefits administration, for emergency responses, and where necessary for law-enforcement investigations or pursuant to warrants. The draft also contains a private cause of action for violations by governmental entities.

Neil Kirk, a resident who testified in favor of stronger limits on third-party access, argued the bill implements the intent of a recent state constitutional privacy amendment and would prevent routine government acquisition of consumer data that users provided to phone, internet and financial providers. He recommended an additional carve-out allowing providers to disclose data to a third-party cloud vendor when necessary to deliver the service the consumer requested; he said that clarification would address vendor relationships while preserving the statutes privacy core.

Municipal and agency witnesses urged careful drafting to avoid operational disruptions. Deanna Dennis, regulatory and legislative affairs director for the Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire, said community energy programs rely on utility-provided customer lists and asked the committee to remove a clause requiring provider disclosures only for named individuals; she proposed language that would preserve lawful data transfers required by state or federal law. Assistant Attorney General Warren Cormack (Consumer Protection & Antitrust) said the Department of Justice does not take a policy position but recommended adding law-enforcement and consumer-protection investigators explicitly to the list of covered agencies so routine subpoena-backed investigative activity is not unintentionally blocked.

Representative Lynn said the bill is meant as a compliment to H.B. 195 and to set limits on government acquisition of third-party data; he repeated that the sponsors built broad functional exceptions into the draft so routine governmental operations would continue. No action was taken by the committee at the hearing.