Virginia Governor Signs Consumer Data Protection Act

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has signed the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act into law. "It is good to see Virginia and other states taking action to protect the privacy of their residents. States have always played a key role in establishing privacy protections," EPIC Policy Director Caitriona Fitzgerald said. "But in 2021 we need a more comprehensive and proactive approach to privacy than what Virginia adopted. We need privacy laws in the United States that address current business practices and protect individuals from all forms of corporate surveillance, algorithmic unfairness, manipulative design, and discrimination. We need privacy laws that minimize the data collected about us and encourage innovation in privacy enhancing technologies. And we need robust enforcement of these rules to make sure that the underlying business practices actually change."