For more exhaustive information on how the Massachusetts Consumer Data Privacy Act would compare with existing state laws, one of the Digital Fourth members made a detailed comparison of the MCDPA with the corresponding laws in California and Maryland:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oOltbqkxLpIsD76hHEPMpnfn-DdjoiA2UpoqNFmZodM/

#MCDPA #MAPol #MAPoli #privacy

In addition to replacing the "and" with an "or", Digital Fourth would also like to 1) strengthen protections for children and 2) make an extremely common-sense change that would broaden the definition of "genetic data" to include information derived from genetic data, not just the gene sequence itself.

If a genetic test shows that you're predisposed for diabetes or cancer, that test result should be protected, not just the data it was derived from.

#MCDPA #MAPol #MAPoli

The MCDPA has higher thresholds for enforcement than California, and also uses an "and" where California's privacy law uses an "or". That's a big difference.

One of the amendments that Digital Fourth is advocating for in our petition would replace the "and" with an "or", substantially broadening the scope of the bill.

#MCDPA #MAPol #MAPoli

California's Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) applies to companies earning over $26,625,000 in the preceding calendar year or that buy, sell, or share the personal information of 100,000 or more consumers.

If passed in its current form, the MCDPA would apply only to companies that both have gross revenues above $200,000,000 *and* that handle data of more than 2,000,000 consumers.

#MCDPA #MAPol #MAPoli #privacy

Massachusetts desperately needs privacy protections, so passing the MCDPA would be better than nothing, but the enforcement thresholds for companies that are held accountable is much lower than for California.

#MCDPA #MAPol #MAPoli #privacy

Although this opinion piece on WBUR says that the if passed the MCDPA "would be the most privacy protective state privacy law in the country," but it's not quite that simple.
https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2026/03/04/big-tech-data-ai-consumer-privacy-law-woodrow-hartzog-neil-richards

The Massachusetts Consumer Data Privacy Act is in some ways strong and in other ways weaker than both the California and Maryland privacy laws.

#MCDPA #MAPol #MAPoli #privacy

The Massachusetts legislature is currently working on the budget for the year ahead, which gives us a few weeks to mobilize voters to advocate for the strongest possible House bill on privacy.

#MAPol #MAPoli

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts House committee on Internet and Cybersecurity, took their time developing the MCDPA, which is *substantially* weaker than what the Senate committee had originally put forward, but *much* stronger than the version that passed Senate Ways and Means.

The MCDPA is before the Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee now, so this is the time to work on strengthening the bill.

#MAPol