Senate Bill 358 (Consumer Data Protection), authored by Sen. Liz Brown (R-Fort Wayne), passed unanimously out of the Senate Commerce and Technology Committee Thursday. The bill allows consumers to ask companies what personal data they have and how they are using it. It also establishes guardrails for companies’ use of data and expectations for securing it. It’s received a lot of attention from Indiana Chamber members who vocalized mass opposition to the measure in its introduced form.
A stakeholder coalition, which included the Chamber, met regularly with Sen. Brown and advocated for the bill to be amended prior to its committee hearing. Opposition focused on two main points: (1) Sen. Brown authored SB 358 using the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation as her model and (2) it included a private right of action.
Senator Brown accepted recommendations from the stakeholder group. The amended version of SB 358 now resembles Virginia’s law – widely regarded as the “gold standard” for consumer data privacy legislation. And importantly, SB 358 no longer includes a private right of action, instead giving enforcement authority solely to the Office of the Indiana Attorney General.
At yesterday’s hearing, I conveyed to the committee that the amended version of SB 358 alleviates concerns raised by Chamber members; specifically, the Virginia model strikes a balance between consumer privacy rights and commercial practices.
Call to action: Please review the amended version of SB 358. If you fear that it will impede your company’s ability to store, use or monetize data, then please contact me.
Resource: Adam Berry at (317) 264-6892 or email: aberry@indianachamber.com
