Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee recently signed the Tennessee Information Protection Act (TIPA), making it the eighth state in the nation to enact a comprehensive data privacy law.
The Volunteer State follows California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, Iowa, and Indiana in establishing a framework for controlling and processing consumers’ personal data in the state.
TIPA marks a significant development in data privacy for businesses operating in the state. This comprehensive legislation grants consumers enhanced control over their personal information while establishing stringent responsibilities for businesses and service providers.
Under TIPA, consumers will be able to access their personal data; make corrections; request deletion of their data; obtain a copy of their data in a portable format; request what categories of information were sold or disclosed; and opt out of the sale of their data.
The legislation only applies to businesses in Tennessee whose revenue exceeds $25 million and the number of consumers whose personal information is processed exceeds 175,000.
The bill also provides several exemptions for businesses, including the government, financial institutions, higher education, as well as covered entities governed by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and several others.
The bill was passed with unanimous consent from Tennessee lawmakers and signed by Gov. Lee on May 11, 2023. It will go into effect on July 1, 2025.
Washington state recently passed broad protections for health data, and when Tennessee became the eighth state to pass a data privacy law, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., argued that the move underscores a need for strong Federal action.
“As technology advances daily, Congress still has not taken action to protect our personal information in the digital age. Legislative wins in Tennessee and Washington expand the patchwork of state policies that has arisen from federal inaction,” Rep DelBene said in a May 15 statement.
“Each state’s data privacy law differs in what it protects, how it is enforced, and who it applies to. Meanwhile, people and their data regularly cross state lines. This makes it difficult for people to understand their rights and for businesses to stay in compliance,” Rep. DelBene added. “That’s why Congress must make passing a strong, uniform federal privacy law that protects our most sensitive personal information its top technology priority.”
