The Washington state Senate passed a data privacy bill Feb. 14 that would give consumers greater access to and control over their personal data.
Senate Bill 6281, sponsored by state Sen. Reuven Carlyle, gives Washington residents the right to know who is using their data and why, the right to correct inaccurate personal data, and the right to delete certain personal data.
“This bill carefully, responsibly takes the best practices from Europe, California, and other states to build a data privacy regulatory framework that will help set a standard and lead the nation in bringing our data privacy laws into the 21st century,” said Carlyle, who chairs the Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee.
Entities that control or process personal data of more than 100,000 consumers annually or obtain 50 percent of gross revenue from the sale or process of personal data of over 25,000 consumers are subject to the proposed regulation. The bill does not apply to data processed by local governments and state agencies.
Unlike the California Consumer Privacy Act, which took effect Jan. 1, the bill gives Washington residents the right to correct inaccurate personal data. The Washington bill also makes consumers opt in before businesses can use their likenesses in facial recognition programs.
The bill is scheduled for a public hearing in the House Committee on Innovation, Technology & Economic Development on Feb. 21.
