Consumer Protection

Plain English Breakdown

The bill does not explicitly mention biometric data in its summary text but includes it in the official digest and bill text.

Consumer Protection Act Changes

This bill changes Tennessee laws related to consumer protection by removing requirements for voluntary compliance agreements, updating rules about ticket sales, and modifying privacy protections.

What This Bill Does

• Removes the requirement that a written agreement must be filed with and approved by a court in Davidson County when someone agrees to stop violating consumer protection laws.
• Adds that the attorney general does not have control over documents from state agencies or institutions during lawsuits about unfair practices, but can help get information from political subdivisions involved in the case.
• Changes the rules for publishers and broadcasters who share information on behalf of others. They now need a claim to be about the content's violation of consumer protection laws to avoid penalties.
• Allows individuals to sue companies that violate antitrust laws for damages, not just groups or organizations.
• Makes it illegal under consumer protection law if someone sells tickets with hidden fees or changes prices after a customer selects them on a website.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who sell goods and services in Tennessee
• Publishers and broadcasters sharing information for others
• Individuals buying products or services

Terms To Know

Consumer Protection Act

A law that protects consumers from unfair business practices.

Limits and Unknowns

• Some parts of the bill take effect on July 1, 2026, while others become law immediately.
• The changes to biometric data rules remove certain types of information from being considered sensitive under privacy laws.

Official Summary Text

This bill makes various changes and additions to the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act of 1977 (referred to in this summary as the "Act"), the Tennessee Information Protection Act, and present law concerning unlawful restraint of trade.

Present law authorizes the attorney general to negotiate and accept an assurance of voluntary compliance with respect to any act or practice considered to violate the Act from an alleged violator. Any such assurance must be in writing and be filed with
and subject to the approval of the circuit or chancery court of Davidson County. Effective July 1, 2026, this bill removes the requirements that the assurance be in writing and subject to judicial approval.

This bill adds that,

i
n any action brought by the attorney general and reporter
to enjoin an unfair or deceptive practice affecting commerce
, the attorney general and reporter is deemed to lack possession, custody, or control over documents possessed by the general assembly, other state officers, or any state agencies or institutions. If such an action is asserted on behalf of a political su
bdivision or agency, then the attorney general and reporter may facilitate nonparty discovery from that political su
bdivision or agency as an instrumentality with an interest in the litigation consistent with
present law
.

Under present law, the act does not apply to a
publisher, broadcaster, or other person principally engaged in the preparation or dissemination of information or the reproduction of printed or pictorial matter, who has prepared or disseminated such information or matter on behalf of others without not
ification from the attorney general that the information or matter violates or is being used as a means to violate
the Act. This bill adds that, in order for such exemption to apply,
the claim
must
concern the
underlying published content's violation of this part.

Present law generally authorizes a
ny person who is directly or indirectly injured or damaged by
an unlawful restraint of trade, such as price fixing or a monopoly, to
sue for and recover equitable relief and actual damages
. This bill specifies that such actions may be brought individually.

Present law requires
third-party ticket reseller
s
, ticket broker
s
, ticket issuer
s
, and ticket resale website
s to
disclose the total cost of a ticket
. Present law also prohibits increasing the
price of a ticket sold through a website after a consumer has selected
that
ticket for purchase
. Effective July 1, 2026, this bill makes a violation of the ticket disclosure requirement or pricing requirement a violation of the Act.

The Tennessee Information Protection Act prohibits a
person
who
determines the purpose and means of processing personal information
(a "controller") from
process
ing
sensitive data concerning a consumer without obtaining the consumer's consent
. Present law defines "sensitive data" to include various categories of personal information, including t
he processing of genetic or biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person
. Under present law, "b
iometric data
"
:

(
1
) Means data generated by automatic measurement of an individual's biological characteristics, such as a fingerprint, voiceprint, eye retina or iris, or other unique
biological patterns or characteristics that are used to identify a specific individual; and

(
2
) Does not include a physical or digital photograph, video recording, or audio recording or data generated from a photograph or video or audio recording; or information collected, used, or stored for healthcare treatment, payment, or operations under HIP
AA
.

Effective July 1 2026, this bill removes
data generated from a photograph or video or audio recording
from (2).

Except as specified in this summary, this bill
take
s
effect upon becoming a law

and appl
ies
retroactively to causes of action arising prior to this
bill
's taking effect and to pending litigation.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 1735
By Stevens

HOUSE BILL 2453
By Garrett
HB2453
010966
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 47,
relative to consumer protection.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 47-18-107(a), is amended by
deleting "The assurance shall be in writing and shall be filed with and subject to the approval of
the circuit or chancery court of Davidson County.".
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 47-18-104(b), is amended by
deleting subdivision (43) and substituting:
(43) The act or practice of directly or indirectly:
(A) Making representations that a person will pay or reimburse for a
motor vehicle traffic citation for any person who purchases a device or
mechanism, passive or active, that can detect or interfere with a radar, laser, or
other device used to measure the speed of motor vehicles; or
(B) Advertising, promoting, selling, or offering for sale any radar jamming
device that includes any active or passive device, instrument, mechanism, or
equipment that interferes with, disrupts, or scrambles the radar or laser that is
used by law enforcement agencies and officers to measure the speed of motor
vehicles;
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 47-18-108, is amended by adding
the following as a new subsection:
(d) In any action brought by the attorney general and reporter under subsection
(a), the attorney general and reporter is deemed to lack possession, custody, or control
over documents possessed by the general assembly, other state officers, or any state

- 2 - 010966

agencies or institutions. If such an action is asserted on behalf of a political subdivision
or agency, then the attorney general and reporter may facilitate nonparty discovery from
that political subdivision or agency as an instrumentality with an interest in the litigation
consistent with § 8-6-109.
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 47-18-111(a)(2), is amended by
deleting the language "on behalf of others without notification" and substituting "on behalf of
others and where the claim concerns the underlying published content's violation of this part,
without notification".
SECTION 5. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 47-25-106(a), is amended by
deleting the language "may sue for and recover" and substituting "may individually sue for and
recover".
SECTION 6. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 47-50-121, is amended by adding
the following as a new subsection:
(e) A violation of this section is a violation of the Tennessee Consumer
Protection Act of 1977, compiled in chapter 18, part 1 of this title. A violation of this
section constitutes an unfair or deceptive act or practice affecting trade or commerce
and is subject to the penalties and remedies as provided in the Tennessee Consumer
Protection Act of 1977.
SECTION 7. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 47-18-104(b), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision:
( ) Violating § 47-50-121;
SECTION 8. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 47-18-104(b), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision:
( ) Advertising, promoting, selling, or offering for sale a good or service that is
illegal or unlawful to sell in this state;

- 3 - 010966

SECTION 9. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 47-18-3302(3)(B), is amended by
deleting the language "or data generated from a photograph or video or audio recording".
SECTION 10. If any provision of this act or the application of any provision of this act to
any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or
applications of the act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to
that end, the provisions of this act are severable.
SECTION 11. SECTIONS 1, 6, 7, and 9 take effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare
requiring it. All remaining sections take effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring
it, and apply retroactively to causes of action arising prior to this act's taking effect and to
pending litigation.