Rhode Island Consumer Data Law Adds to State Privacy Patchwork

Rhode Island has become the 20th state to enact data privacy protections for its residents through a measure approved by the state legislature.

Gov. Dan McKee (D) allowed the measure to become law without his signature, his office announced Wednesday. State comprehensive privacy laws generally give residents more control over how companies collect and use their data. Six other states have enacted such laws this year, which are taking increasingly divergent paths in the absence of a comprehensive federal law, such as a recent Maryland measure that more strictly limits data collection from the outset.

Rhode Island’s law (S.B. ...