Massachusetts state Senator Cynthia Creem has introduced a
consumer data privacy bill, SD 341, that would give Massachusetts consumers
the right to sue in the event their personal information or
biometric data is improperly collected or distributed or for any
other potential violation of the new law. Under SD 341, and similar
to Illinois's Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA),
consumers may not be required to demonstrate or have suffered
monetary or property losses in order to seek damages for an alleged
violation. Any violation of the proposed new law could be grounds
for a valid private action.
The proposed bill is the latest signal that state legislatures
are going to be increasingly active in regulating data protection
issues. California's new California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
is considered an expansion of privacy-related regulation beyond any
existing federal or state law. Although the CCPA will not go into
effect until January 2020, businesses are busy
