Consumer Reports commends the Minnesota Legislature for approving a comprehensive privacy bill; cautions that improvements are needed
St. Paul, MN — The Minnesota Legislature advanced a new privacy bill as part of an omnibus legislative package. Consumer Reports worked with legislators throughout the session to strengthen the legislation. If the bill is signed into law by Governor Tim Walz, Minnesota would become the eighteenth state to extend baseline privacy rights to consumers, including the right to access, delete, and stop the sale of their personal information. The bill would become operative on July 31, 2025.
The Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act contains important consumer protections, including requirements that companies honor browser privacy signals, such as the Global Privacy Control, so that consumers can opt out of data sales at all companies in a single step and enhanced consumer rights relating to profiling, which allow consumers to contest automated decisions about them and overturn them if they were based on faulty information.
However, the bill also includes a several critical loopholes, including:
- Insufficient enforcement mechanisms and data minimization provisions;
- Weak definitions of key terms, including “sale” and “targeted advertising” and;
- A complete carveout for small businesses as defined by the Small Business Administration definition.
“We commend the Minnesota Legislature for the thoughtful and inclusive deliberation of their comprehensive privacy law,” said Matt Schwartz, policy analyst at Consumer Reports. “Instead of simply copying other state privacy laws word for word, this bill has some notable wrinkles that improve protections for consumers compared to some laws. At the same time, Minnesota consumers deserve a stronger privacy bill overall. We urge legislators to use future sessions to close the many loopholes that remain in this bill, including those relating to key definitions, the data minimization standard, loyalty programs, and enforcement.”
Contact: Cyrus Rassool, cyrus.rassool@consumer.org
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