Senate-backed Massachusetts Data Privacy Act would expand individual control over data, ban sale of sensitive data

Summary

Senator Jason Lewis said the Senate unanimously approved the Massachusetts Data Privacy Act, which—if passed by the House and signed by the governor—would limit collection to necessary data, expand opt-in/opt-out rights, ban sale of sensitive data and prohibit collection or sale of minors' data.

Senator Jason Lewis described the Massachusetts Data Privacy Act, which the Senate passed with unanimous support, as legislation to give people more control over personal data and to curtail certain commercial uses of collected information.

According to Lewis, the bill would require companies to limit data collection to what is strictly necessary to provide a product or service, require transparency about what is collected and how it is used, and create opt-in/opt-out rights related to targeted advertising. The bill would ban the sale of sensitive data—Lewis cited biometric information as an example—and would prohibit collecting or selling data about minors or targeting minors with such data-driven advertising.

Lewis said the Senate passed the bill and it must still pass the House and be signed by Governor Maura Healey to become law. He also said Massachusetts modeled its approach on similar laws in other states.