Vermont governor vetoes privacy bill, legislature plans override vote

The fate of Vermont’s sweeping data privacy bill hangs in the balance after being vetoed by Republican Gov. Phil Scott on Friday.

The Democrat-led legislature is hoping to mount an override of the veto this week to push the 330-page bill over the line. If so, it would join 18 other states, including Texas, that have comprehensive consumer data privacy laws on the books. The states have acted in the absence of a comprehensive federal privacy law.

The Vermont bill aimed to give Vermonters more control over their online personal data that companies collect, share, and sell. It set strict rules about the collection and use of highly-sensitive data, such as social security numbers, and placed guardrails around data collection from children.