In what continues to be a busy year for genetic privacy developments, Rhode Island has joined the growing number of states regulating direct-to-consumer (“DTC”) genetic testing with its recently enacted genetic privacy law, S 2203. With S 2203, Rhode Island is the fifth state to enact genetic privacy legislation this year, following Utah, South Dakota, Connecticut, and Vermont. 

We previously analyzed S 2203 in full in a blog post here, and the final enacted version remains unchanged from our earlier analysis. The law took effect immediately.

Violations of the law are enforced exclusively by the Rhode Island Attorney General and may result in civil penalties of up to $1,000 for negligent violations and between $1,000 and $10,000 for willful violations, with penalties paid to the affected consumer.