Maryland

Last month, the Maryland legislature passed the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act (“MODPA”). Pending Governor’s signature, Maryland will become the latest state to enact comprehensive privacy legislation, joining California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Iowa, Indiana, Tennessee, Montana, Oregon, Texas, Florida, Delaware, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Kentucky, and Nebraska.

MODPA contains unique provisions that will require careful analysis to ensure compliance, including: data minimization requirements; restrictions on the collection, sale, or transfer of sensitive data; and consumer health data-related obligations.  These unique provisions have the potential to create additional work streams even for companies who have come into compliance for existing state laws.  This blog post summarizes the statute’s key takeaways.Continue Reading The Maryland Online Data Privacy Act Set to Reshape the State Privacy Legislation Landscape with Stringent Requirements

This blog post reports on two recent state telemarketing law developments that affect, among other things, marketing calls and text message transmissions.

Maryland Enacts New Law.  Earlier this month, on May 3rd, Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed into law the Stop the Spam Calls Act of 2023, which will take…

Continue Reading Maryland and Florida Update Their Telemarketing Laws

This blog post summarizes recent telemarketing developments emerging from Arizona, Washington, and Maryland.  Arizona recently amended its state telemarketing law to include a new text message restriction.  Washington and Maryland may soon enact more significant updates of their telemarketing laws, including with respect to automated transmissions.  The proposed new law in Maryland is particularly notable, as it seeks to impose the same sort of consent requirements on automated marketing calls and texts that exist now in Florida and Oklahoma.Continue Reading State Telemarketing Updates: Arizona, Washington, and Maryland

With less than two months until it goes into effect, many practitioners are focused on bringing their programs into compliance with the California Consumer Protection Act (“CCPA”) by January 1, 2020.  But the rapid pace of privacy legal developments could continue next year.  This past year, five states established studies or task forces to study privacy laws and report back to the legislature before their next session begins. Bills in Washington and Illinois passed one legislative chamber before failing, and their proponents have promised a renewed effort in 2020.

This is the first of a series of blog posts on what states other than California were considering to help you anticipate and prepare for 2020.  In total, at least eighteen states considered comprehensive privacy bills this year.  This initial blog post — on the heels of Halloween last week — focuses on some of those that are the scariest: bills in New York, Massachusetts, and Maryland.
Continue Reading State Privacy Laws Have the Potential to Haunt Industry

California is the latest state to enact legislation restricting the circumstances under which employers or schools can demand access to employees’ or students’ personal social media accounts.

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed two bills into law on Sept. 27.  The first, A.B. 1844, bars employers from requiring or requesting that employees or job applicants disclose personal social media usernames or passwords, access personal social media accounts in the employer’s presence, or otherwise “[d]ivulge any personal social media.” Employers are barred from firing or otherwise retaliating against anyone who refuses to comply with a request that is prohibited under the law. Employers may require employees to disclose information needed to access employer-issued devices and may request access to personal social media the employer reasonably believes is relevant to a misconduct investigation.

S.B. 1349 creates parallel protections for students, prospective students and student groups at public and private colleges and universities.Continue Reading New California Laws Restrict Employer, College Access to Personal Social-Media Content

Yesterday, Maryland became the first state to pass legislation banning employers from asking employees or job applicants to provide their passwords to social media sites.  The legislation also prohibits employers from taking, or threatening to take, disciplinary action on employees or applicants who refuse to disclose such information. The bill…

Continue Reading Maryland Legislation Bans Employers From Requesting Social Media Passwords

Lawmakers in Maryland and Illinois have introduced bills that would prohibit employers from requiring job applicants or employees to grant access to their social networking accounts.  The bills arose from reports that employers have impliedly or explicitly required access to social networking accounts as a condition of hiring or employment.…

Continue Reading Maryland and Illinois Introduce Bills to Limit Employer Access to Employees’ Social Networking Accounts

A new bill has been introduced in the Illinois legislature that would make it illegal for employers to ask prospective employees for access to their social network profiles.  The bill, H.B. 3782, would amend the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act to provide that employers may not ask…

Continue Reading Illinois Bill Would Ban Employer Demands for Job Applicant Social Network Credentials