Massachusetts Information Security And Privacy Act Sent To "Study"

It does not look as though Massachusetts will be state number 6 to enact a comprehensive data privacy law – or at least not the one that people have been talking about. The Massachusetts Joint Committee on Health Care Financing has voted to send House Bill 4514, An Act Establishing the Massachusetts Information Security and Privacy Act to "study." This action by the influential legislative committee signals that this particular bill is not likely to advance during the current legislative session which concludes at the end of the calendar year.

HB 4514 would have updated and expanded many data privacy and security laws in Massachusetts and would have impacted consumers and businesses alike. For example, the bill would have mandated that companies provide notices on how customers' personal information is used and would have limited how such information could be used. The bill would have provided consumers with a right to opt-out of targeted advertising and would have