Legislative Update – Business

Personal Information Protection Act

A bill that would have amended Maryland’s Personal Information Protection Act, written about here and here, to include data collected through an application or device, genetic information, and nonpublic social media information about an individual, stalled in committee.  The bill would also have modified the statute’s time deadlines, notice requirements and certain other provisions.

Proposed Maryland Online Consumer Protection Act

The proposed Maryland Online Consumer Protection Act, written about here, passed the House (with amendments) but received an unfavorable report by the Senate Finance Committee.  The original bill would have required additional notices to consumers regarding the collection and disclosure of personal information, and would have provided consumers additional rights to have the business delete the information and to opt out of third-party disclosure. 

The amended bill that passed the House (but stalled in the Senate) eliminated the consumer protections, instead adding a requirement that the Maryland Cybersecurity Council review current practices and methods of collection, use, storage, and disclosure of consumers’ personally identifiable information and report back to the General Assembly on or before November 1, 2020.