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Vermont lawmakers have passed a
privacy bill that gives residents the right to reject a common form of online ad targeting.
The Vermont Data Privacy and Online Surveillance Act (S. 71), which now heads to Governor Phil Scott, specifically
enables people to opt out of the processing of their data for targeted advertising, generally defined by the bill as ads based on people's online activity over time and across nonaffiliated sites or
apps.
That definition excludes ads based on current search queries, as well as ads based on content of the websites or apps where the ads are displayed. The definition also excludes
ads based on people's activity within a company's own website or app.
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The proposed law also requires companies to honor opt-out requests sent via browser extensions or
universal settings (such as the Global Privacy Control).
Those tools send the
equivalent of do-not-track commands to every site people visit.
The measure additionally provides that businesses must obtain consumers' consent before processing "sensitive"
data -- including information about race, religion, sexual orientation, health conditions, biometrics and location data that can pinpoint location within a 1,750-foot radius.
The bill tasks the attorney general with enforcement, and does not authorize lawsuits by private individuals.
Two years ago, the Vermont legislature passed a privacy bill that
would have allowed consumers who were harmed by the collection or transfer of sensitive data to sue violators.
That measure -- which drew opposition from business
organizations including the major ad industry groups -- was vetoed by the governor.
Advocacy group
Consumer Reports said on Friday it was disappointed with the current bill.
“What occurred in Vermont is an unfortunate but clarifying lesson on the brute power of
the Big Tech lobby," Matt Schwartz, senior policy analyst at Consumer Reports, stated.
He added that the organization hopes the bill "is only a first step and will be rapidly
improved upon in future sessions."