State Efforts to Limit Data Collection Cause Compliance Anxiety

A surge of state interest in requiring companies to minimize their collection of personal data threatens operations for a wide-range of businesses—potentially forcing some to limit operations.

The first law of this kind, the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act goes into effect in October, with several other states looking to follow suit. But without any formal guidance from the Maryland attorney general, companies are struggling to know how to comply with the law’s standard of what is “reasonably necessary and proportionate” for purposes disclosed to the consumer.

The law is one that other states are watching: Maine and Massachusetts are ...