Virginia Bill Banning Sale Of Location Data Nears Final Passage
Lawmakers in Virginia’s house on Thursday unanimously passed a bill that would ban businesses from selling data that can pinpoint people’s locations within a 1,750-foot radius.
The state senate unanimously passed a near-identical version of the bill (SB 338) earlier this month. The measure now returns to the senate for final approval.
Two other states — Maryland and Oregon — have passed comparable bans on the sale of location data.
Related Knowledge Center: Digital privacy and data security
If you’re online, you’re generating a constant stream of information about yourself — sometimes voluntarily, sometimes unwittingly — that is assembled and used to craft your online experience. And generate wealth for data brokers. Meanwhile, designers and managers of the digital infrastructure on which the world depends are engaged in a never-ending effort to thwart attempts, by both criminal enterprises and state actors, to exploit vulnerabilities in those systems.
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