of Maryland Online Data Privacy Act of 2024Proposed legislation aimed at impacting data collection and online privacy has successfully passed both the Senate and House of Representatives and is currently awaiting approval. Governor Wes Moore.
The bill, scheduled to go into effect by October 2025, comes at a pivotal moment in Maryland’s efforts to protect consumer data, but industry groups and small business owners have expressed concerns. facing opposition.
in letter addressed to Senate Finance Committee, Maryland Chamber of Commerce They expressed concerns, including the need to ensure definitions and requirements align with those of neighboring countries, particularly regarding biometric information, consumer health data, and sensitive data.
The court emphasized the importance of the attorney general retaining sole responsibility for law enforcement. It also advocated extending the compliance deadline until October 2026 to give businesses enough time to adapt to the new rules.
“The Maryland Chamber of Commerce and its members care about consumer privacy, and the Privacy Act not only provides strong protections for consumers, but also protects the industry,” the chamber said in the letter. “We believe that this needs to be balanced with the need for innovation.”
local small and medium-sized businesses, etc. T|W ToteBag manufacturers have expressed similar concerns about the bill’s potential impact.
“We operate completely online,” says T|W Tote owner Sharon Thomas and Sherika Winter said in report This month by TheBayNet.com. “Digital advertising is one of the primary ways to find new customers, grow your business, and compete with national brands. We believe in protecting people’s privacy, but Maryland Online We are concerned that privacy laws will over-regulate the collection and use of online data, making it more difficult and expensive to promote our business.”
These concerns echo findings outlined in a University of Chicago review paper. booth business schoolhighlighting the possibilities economic burden Data privacy law regulations for small and medium-sized businesses that rely heavily on data-driven digital advertising to attract and engage new customers.
“Targeted advertising works by finding the right people to send your ad to – people who haven’t yet bought your product but might be interested in it,” says Chicago Booth. states. bradley shapirosaid one of the co-authors. “The more niche a product is, the harder it is to find those people, so companies need better data to find them. If you take away some of that, it becomes harder to find the right customers. It’s going to be difficult.”
Meanwhile, another bill: maryland kids codea bill aimed at curbing the misuse of personal data by tech platforms, particularly regarding young consumers, also passed both houses of Congress despite opposition from industry giants including: Amazon, Google and Meta.
If this law goes into effect, the tracking and manipulations employed by online platforms, such as automatically playing videos and bombarding children with notifications, to keep them online. The methods will be limited.
More broadly, the United States is inching closer to national establishment. data privacy protection based on American Privacy Rights Actwas announced on Sunday (April 7).
The law establishes “clear national data privacy rights and protections for Americans,” including minimizing data collection by businesses, giving consumers more control over their data, and enforcing stricter safeguards against unauthorized data transfers. I am aiming to do that.
These legislative efforts emerge against a dynamic backdrop. connected economy There, it becomes increasingly difficult to ensure the privacy of consumer data, and every interaction online is likely to create a persistent digital footprint.
However, other developments like Google chromium Test something new in your browser Tracking prevention functionshows that the entire industry is moving toward privacy-centric solutions.
“The work is never done when it comes to improving privacy on the web,” Anthony Chavez, vice president of Privacy Sandbox, said in a Dec. 14 article. blog post. “That’s why Chrome continues to invest in features that protect your data and give you more control over how it’s used. This includes measures to limit your ability to track your activity across different websites. This includes taking steps.”
