Advocates say data privacy bill will do little to protect Vermonters
Advocates say data privacy bill will do little to protect Vermonters
Publish Date: 2026-06-10 16:10:00
Source Domain: www.vermontpublic.org
A data privacy bill headed to the desk of Republican Gov. Phil Scott will do little to protect Vermonters from the ravages of Big Tech, according to state and national advocates.
A yearslong battle between privacy hawks and the business community ended in the latter’s favor this year when lawmakers gave final approval to what will soon become Vermont’s first-ever comprehensive data privacy law.
The bill, which won unanimous approval in the Senate and got only three ‘no’ votes in the House, gives Vermonters the right to know what information is being collected about them, the ability to correct inaccurate data and the right to opt out of having their data sold.
“I know that this is just the beginning of our work to protect all Vermonters from the increasingly predatory practices of advertisers, marketers and Big Tech,” said Williston Rep. Angela Arsenault, a Democrat. “Your data is yours to own and keep.”
Advocates such as Zach Tomanelli, with the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, wanted far stronger guardrails on a global data industry that generates hundreds of billions of dollars annually from the sale of phone numbers, location histories, political affiliations, health conditions and other information.
“From our standpoint, this is a bill that does not meaningfully advance consumer data privacy protections, unfortunately,” Tomanelli said.
VPIRG and other groups including the Electronic Privacy Information Center and Consumer Reports say the legislation lacks three key provisions. One would prohibit companies from collecting any information unrelated to the service they’re providing — so a weather app, for instance, could collect your location data, but not your financial records or religious affiliation.
“From our standpoint, this is a bill that does not meaningfully advance consumer data privacy protections, unfortunately.”
Zach…
