Massachusetts Passes Data Privacy Law Banning Sale Of Precise Location Data

Lawmakers approved a bill that expands residents’ control over personal data and prohibits the sale of precise geolocation information, potentially reshaping privacy rules nationwide.

In Massachusetts, a privacy protection bill was enacted that gives residents new rights to access and delete their data, including data held by large technology companies. The law also bans the sale of precise location data of users.

On Thursday, the Massachusetts House of Representatives unanimously supported the state’s Consumer Data Privacy Act – 146 votes in favor. This came a few months after the Senate, with 40 lawmakers, supported advancing its own bill in September. Now both bills will cross to the Senate and be sent to the governor for signature, expected in the near future. The exact signing date is not yet known.

This move makes Massachusetts yet another state in the U.S. pushing for stronger consumer privacy rights in the wake of years of documented abuses by the broader tech, advertising, and social media industries. Although the U.S. lacks a universal federal privacy law, individual states are filling the gap with their own standards.

The bill, if enacted, would apply to companies that process or handle personal data of more than 100,000 consumers. It would primarily affect mid-sized startups as well as Silicon Valley tech giants.

The law prohibits dissemination or sale of sensitive information without the user’s explicit consent. This information includes biometric data (health, genetics, and fingerprints), precise geolocation data, and other information such as religion, immigration status, and sexual orientation.

The collection and sale of people’s location data has been a major topic in privacy debates for many years. Data sellers often relied on app developers who sold their users’ location data for resale to anyone – including trackers and governments.

The Biden administration was close to achieving a federal-level ban on the sale of Americans’ sensitive data, but such a position was later reversed by the Trump administration.

Enforcing the ban on location data for Massachusetts residents and visitors will effectively implement a statewide prohibition on selling location data across the entire state. It is expected that the law will have broad implications for startups that collect, distribute, and sell location data, as well as for advertising companies that use such data to target ads.

According to local media outlets WBUR and Lynn Journal, state legislators have worked across party lines, believing privacy is a fundamental right of Massachusetts residents.

The bill has received broad recognition from privacy groups and activists.

“took a significant step toward strengthening the fight against Big Tech’s surveillance abuses”

– Evan Greer

“a leader in protecting personal privacy and curbing digital surveillance”

– ACLU

If signed into law, Massachusetts will serve as an example for other states in the fight for data privacy and could set new standards for companies that work with the data of state residents.