Executive TL;DR:

• Virginia bans the sale of geolocation data
• Law aims to protect user privacy and security
• Regulations target data brokers and third-party sellers

The Buzz Score

The Internet’s Verdict: 70% Hyped, 30% Skeptical

Forum Voices

Users are reacting to the news, with some expressing relief and others questioning the law’s effectiveness.

Given the actual informed and uncoerced choice, people say no to this kind of collection and especially its sale or use for any purpose other than the explicit service they thought they were allowing it for (navigation, setting the time, etc etc).

Others are highlighting the potential loopholes and challenges in enforcing the law.

So let’s say a Delaware incorporated company sells location data that happens to be collected in Virginia, but its sold from the corporation with no operations in Virginia. What happens?

Implications and Next Steps

The law’s impact on the data broker industry and individual users remains to be seen.

As one user noted,

As long as this is actually about ‘sale’ of data and actually imposes strict limits on data brokers and all the nefarious actors out there, I am all for it.

Focus Keyword: Geolocation Data