Virginians’ New Data Protection Rights

Attorney General Jason Miyares wants to ensure Virginians are aware of their new data protection rights that went into effect last month. The Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (“VCDPA”) provides Virginia residents certain rights for personal data, information linked or reasonably linkable to a Virginia resident excluding publicly available information, collected by businesses.

The VCDPA allows for Virginians to request that the controller, businesses who collect personal information:

• Confirm if the controller is actually processing their personal data.
• Correct inaccuracies in the consumer’s personal data that is collected by the controller.
• Delete personal data provided by or obtained about the consumer.
• Obtain copies of the personal data collected by the controller.
• Opt out of the processing of personal data for purposes of targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or further profiling.

Virginia consumers can invoke their rights by submitting a request to the controller of their personal data specifying the rights they want to invoke. Controllers are required to provide consumers with a reasonably accessible, clear, and meaningful privacy notice for exercising their rights.

Consumers can file complaints with the Virginia Attorney General’s Office. The Attorney General only has authority to enforce the VCDPA, and can notify controllers and processors of data if a violation has occurred.

For more information on the VCDPA, please visit our website HERE.

Read the full text of the law HERE.

For further assistance call our Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-552-9963 if calling from Virginia, or (804) 786-2042 if calling from the Richmond area or from outside Virginia.