Connecticut legislators passed a bill that prohibits the sale of precise geolocation data, allows for removal of personal information from data brokers, and limits personalized pricing
Hartford, CT – Consumer Reports applauded the passage of Senate Bill 4, a package of legislation that would extend new privacy protections, such as by prohibiting the sale of consumers’ precise geolocation data, and would also empower Connecticut residents to delete their information from registered data brokers with a single click.
“We are pleased to see the overwhelming support for SB 4, which includes Connecticut’s version of the Delete Act and a complete ban on the sale of consumers’ precise geolocation data, among other important amendments. SB 4’s data broker provisions will make it much easier for consumers to delete their data and protect themselves from harms like stalking, identity theft, and unwanted marketing. Meanwhile, SB 4 will also ensure that consumers’ location data is protected by default and cannot be auctioned off to the highest bidder. We hope to see more states pass these critical protections,” said Matt Schwartz, senior policy analyst at Consumer Reports. “We thank Senator Maroney for his leadership on this important bill and we urge Governor Lamont to sign it into law.”
CR was a leading organization in helping establish the Delete Act in California; Connecticut now becomes the second state in the nation with such a rule. Connecticut also joins Maryland, Oregon, and Virginia in banning the sale of precise geolocation information. California and Massachusetts are also considering similar bans during the 2026 legislative session. CR recently released model legislation, the State Location Privacy Act, that would similarly ban the sale of consumers’ precise geolocation information.
The bill also creates new rules to address surveillance pricing — also known as “personalized” pricing — which is the practice of using a consumer’s personal data such as browsing history, real-time location, inferred health conditions, family structure, or income to set individualized prices or discounts for consumers. The surveillance pricing language in SB 4 was recently amended by another bill, HB 5563. The bill prohibits personalized pricing in the sale of goods, though it has loopholes that arguably exempt secret discounts; in practice this may permit different prices based on invasive profiling tactics. It also requires companies to disclose when they use a consumer’s personal data to set a higher price for a good or service.
“It’s unfair that businesses can use what they know about you — what you search for online, inferences about your income or lifestyle–to change the price you see,” said Grace Gedye, senior policy analyst at Consumer Reports. “It’s great to see states work on personalized pricing, and this bill makes improvements upon the law recently enacted by Maryland. There are some areas, including ambiguous exemptions for secret discounts, that we would like to see addressed. But, we look forward to working to strengthen the bill over time as Connecticut has done on its consumer data privacy law.”
Contact: cyrus.rassool@consumer.org