Privacy Laws and Amendments Go into Effect in Montana and Connecticut

After a flurry of activity on privacy at the state level this year, two states saw their privacy legislation go into effect this week.

Connecticut amended its Connecticut Data Privacy Act, which has been in effect since July 1, 2023. The amendments related to minors’ privacy went into effect on Oct. 1. The amendments place limits on companies’ ability to use the personal data of children and teens for targeted advertising or profiling or to sell their personal data. and require companies that serve minors to conduct specialized data protection assessments.

The Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act also went into effect on Oct. 1. The law is substantially the same as the unamended Connecticut Data Privacy Act.

Nineteen states have enacted privacy laws of varying strength in recent years. Many are modeled off of Connecticut’s law, which contains many loopholes and carve-outs that make it insufficient for meaningfully protecting privacy. However, EPIC and Consumer Reports recently published a strengthened version of the Connecticut Data Privacy Act that would both provide consistency for business and provide consumers with meaningful privacy protections.