Committee reviews draft 3.3 of S.71, aligning Vermont data‑privacy language with Connecticut and California models

Legislative counsel Rick Sagel presented draft 3.3 of S.71 to the House Commerce & Economic Development Committee on May 8 and walked members through a series of definition changes, deletions of some advertising provisions, and new duties for controllers and processors intended to align Vermont’s privacy law with aspects of Connecticut’s 2025 amendments and California rulemaking.

Sagel said the draft clarifies core definitions: it narrows and reorganizes the definition of ‘collect,’ updates the definition of ‘consent’ to require a freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous indication of choice, and adjusts the distinction between ‘processor’ and ‘processing’ so collection and processing are distinct concepts. He described removing or revising several advertising‑related terms (contextual advertising,…