Maine Senate advances controversial data privacy bill
Maine Senate advances controversial data privacy bill
Publish Date: 2026-03-06 11:42:00
Source Domain: www.mainepublic.org
The Maine Senate gave initial approval Thursday to a sweeping digital privacy bill that limits how companies use the enormous amounts of personal data collected online.
But many of Maine’s leading business groups oppose the bill, which they contend will put Maine companies at a competitive disadvantage and complicate their efforts to reach new customers. And Republicans blasted Democrats on Thursday for a last-minute change that explicitly exempts political parties and committees from the restrictions.
Nineteen states have passed some form of data privacy law giving consumers more control over use of the information they purposely or unknowingly share. But just two states have adopted the more restrictive “data minimization” standard that has received initial approval in both chambers of the Maine Legislature.
The bill, LD 1822, would only allow companies to collect information that they need to provide a specific service or product rather than placing the onus on consumers to opt-out of data sharing. It would also prohibit the use of “sensitive data” — such as a person’s race, ethnicity or health conditions — as well as the data of minors.
“While Washington politicians have failed to respond to these (privacy) concerns, it falls to the states to act,” said Sen. Anne Carney, D-Cape Elizabeth, co-chair of the Judiciary Committee that has spent several years working on the data privacy issue. “LD 1822 ensures that there are commonsense guardrails on the collection and use of our data in the free market, helping to keep Mainers safe and navigate the digital age while giving them greater control over their personal information.”
But businesses and industry groups — including the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, the Retail Association of Maine, Hospitality Maine and the National Federation of Independent Business in Maine — have been lobbying hard against the version of the bill that is advancing in the Legislature….
