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House advances data-portability bill to let Utahns move data between platforms
Summary
Representative Fiafia's first substitute HB418 would require data portability and consumer control over personal digital data; representatives described it as putting users, not companies, in control and passed the House 64-1.
First substitute House Bill 418, a data-sharing and portability measure, passed the Utah House on Feb. 20 after extended floor discussion about user control of personal data and platform competition.
Representative Jordan Fiafia, sponsor, framed the bill as a response to "big tech" practices that lock user data into platforms. "HB 4 18 changes that. It gives Utahns the ability to take your messages, contacts, posts with you if you choose a platform to leave a platform," Fiafia said. He said the measure protects the right to delete personal data and fuels competition by allowing users to move their data.
Supporters described the bill as returning ownership of data to individuals; Representative Jordan Tuscher compared it to historical protections for phone-number portability. Sponsors and supporters said technical details remain to be worked out and the Office of Professional Licensing and technical stakeholders would need to define protocols.
The House passed the bill by recorded vote (first substitute HB 4 18 having received 64 yes and 1 no, per the clerk). Lawmakers emphasized that background technical implementation and privacy safeguards would be addressed in rulemaking and further committee work if the Senate takes up the measure.
