Bill > SB85

This bill, titled the Consumer Data Protection Act, mandates that social media platforms and operators of artificial intelligence (AI) systems must create and maintain "interoperability interfaces," which are essentially standardized ways for different digital services to communicate and share data. Specifically, social media platforms will need to allow users to share their "social graph data" – information about their connections, interactions, and public profiles on the platform – with other social media platforms as the user chooses. Similarly, AI system operators must enable users to share "contextual data" – information about their interactions with the AI, such as prompts and preferences – with other AI systems. To facilitate this, these platforms and operators must use "open protocols," which are publicly available technical standards free of licensing fees, and ensure data sharing is continuous, real-time, and non-discriminatory. While they must disclose information about accessing these interfaces and can establish reasonable fees for high-volume data access, they are not required to share internal trade secrets, proprietary algorithms, or data that cannot be reasonably shared in an open format. The bill also clarifies that data obtained through these interfaces can only be used for safeguarding privacy, delivering requested services, or maintaining interoperability, and any received data must be reasonably secured. This legislation is set to take effect on July 1, 2027.

Business and Industry, Justice

https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB85