Data broker registry

AN ACT Relating to creating a data broker registry; amending RCW 1
18.235.020; adding a new chapter to Title 19 RCW; and creating a new 2
section. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature recognizes that 5
consumers are increasingly conducting their professional and personal 6
affairs online and on devices such as laptop computers, smartphones, 7
or tablets. These activities include accessing the marketplace, the 8
workplace, health care, information, and entertainment. Through these 9
daily activities, consumers generate enormous and unprecedented 10
amounts of data about themselves, including their locations, 11
behaviors, and preferences.12
(2) The legislature further recognizes that technological 13
advances have made it possible to more easily and quickly collect 14
vast amounts of personal information and connect it to an individual, 15
whether such information is obtained through electronic or other 16
means. 17
(3) The legislature finds that there are many businesses engaged 18
in collecting the personal data of Washingtonians, and sharing, 19
buying, and selling it without Washingtonians' knowledge or consent. 20
This is a new business model that has flourished and is anticipated 21
H-2897.1
HOUSE BILL 2483
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Kloba, Donaghy, Fosse, Ryu, Zahn, Parshley,
Farivar, Ramel, Gregerson, Bronoske, Cortes, Obras, Pollet, Macri,
Nance, Thomas, and Callan
Read first time 01/14/26. Referred to Committee on Consumer
Protection & Business.
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to grow as more people and more devices are connected with ever-1
increasing frequency for an ever-greater number of innovative 2
applications. As such, the legislature intends to provide 3
transparency into the number of businesses, volume, and type of 4
activity in this unique and growing industry. 5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The definitions in this section apply 6
throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires 7
otherwise.8
(1)(a) "Biometric information" means a record of one or more 9
measurable biological or behavioral characteristics that can be used 10
alone or in combination with each other or with other information for 11
automated recognition of a known or unknown individual. Examples 12
include, but are not limited to: Fingerprints, retina and iris 13
patterns, voiceprints, DNA sequence, facial characteristics, gait, 14
handwriting, key stroke dynamics, and mouse movements.15
(b) "Biometric information" does not include writing samples, 16
written signatures, human biological samples used for valid 17
scientific testing or screening, demographic data, tattoo 18
descriptions, or physical descriptions, such as height, weight, hair 19
color, or eye color. "Biometric information" does not include donated 20
organs, tissues, or parts, or blood or serum stored on behalf of 21
recipients or potential recipients of living or cadaveric transplants 22
and obtained or stored by a federally designated organ procurement 23
agency. 24
(2) "Brokered personal data" means any of the following 25
computerized data elements about a resident individual, if 26
categorized or organized for sale or licensing to another entity:27
(a) The resident individual's name or the name of a member of the 28
resident individual's immediate family or household;29
(b) The resident individual's address or an address of a member 30
of the resident individual's immediate family or household;31
(c) The resident individual's date or place of birth;32
(d) The maiden name of the resident individual's mother;33
(e) Biometric information about the resident individual;34
(f) The resident individual's social security number or the 35
number of any other government-issued identification for the resident 36
individual; or 37
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(g) Other information that, alone or in combination with other 1
information that is sold or licensed, can reasonably be associated 2
with the resident individual. 3
(3)(a) "Business entity" means: 4
(i) A resident individual who regularly engages in commercial 5
activity for the purpose of generating income; 6
(ii) A corporation or nonprofit corporation, limited liability 7
company, partnership or limited liability partnership, business 8
trust, joint venture, or other form of business organization the 9
constituent parts of which share a common economic interest;10
(iii) A financial institution, as defined in RCW 9A.56.280; or11
(iv) An individual that controls, is controlled by, or is under 12
common control with a person described in (a)(ii) or (iii) of this 13
subsection (3). 14
(b) "Business entity" does not include the state or a state 15
agency, a local government, or a business entity or other person 16
during a period in which the business entity or person is acting 17
solely on behalf of and at the direction of the state, a state 18
agency, or a local government. 19
(4) "Data broker" means any business entity or part of a business 20
entity that collects and sells or licenses brokered personal data to 21
another person, irrespective of the business entity's relationship 22
with the resident individual whose data is being collected and sold 23
or licensed. "Data broker" does not include: 24
(a) A consumer reporting agency, as defined in 15 U.S.C. Sec. 25
1681a, a person that furnishes information to a consumer reporting 26
agency, as provided in 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681s-2, or a user of a 27
consumer report, as defined in 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681a, to the extent 28
that the consumer reporting agency, the person that furnishes 29
information to a consumer reporting agency, or the user of a consumer 30
report engages in activities that are subject to regulation under the 31
federal fair credit reporting act, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681 et seq.; and32
(b) A financial institution, an affiliate, or a nonaffiliated 33
third party, as those terms are defined in 15 U.S.C. Sec. 6809, to 34
the extent that the financial institution, affiliate, or 35
nonaffiliated third party is subject to regulation under Title V of 36
the Gramm-Leach-Bliley act, 15 U.S.C. Secs. 6801 to 6809, and 37
regulations adopted under Title V of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley act.38
(5) "Department" means the department of licensing.39
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(6) "License" means a grant of access to, or distribution of, 1
data by one person to another person in exchange for consideration. 2
"License" does not include a use of data for the sole benefit of a 3
data provider where the data provider maintains control over the use 4
of the data. 5
(7) "Resident individual" means a person who resides in 6
Washington. 7
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) 8
of this section, beginning January 1, 2027, a data broker may not 9
collect and sell or license brokered personal data within this state 10
unless the data broker registers with the department as provided in 11
section 4 of this act.12
(2) A data broker is not required to register with the department 13
if the brokered personal data involves only: 14
(a) Providing publicly available information that is related to a 15
resident individual's business or profession; 16
(b) Providing publicly available information as part of a service 17
that provides alerts for health or safety purposes;18
(c) Providing directory assistance or directory information 19
services as, or on behalf of, a telecommunications carrier; or20
(d) Selling the assets of a business entity or a part of a 21
business entity a single time, or only occasionally, as part of a 22
transfer of control over the assets that is not part of the ordinary 23
conduct of the business entity or a part of the business entity.24
(3) A data broker who is required to register under this chapter 25
but fails to do so is subject to a fine of $1,000 per day for each 26
day the data broker is not registered. 27
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) Annually, following a year in which a 28
business entity meets the definition of data broker as provided in 29
section 2 of this act, a data broker must:30
(a) Submit on a form and in a format the department specifies:31
(i) The name of the data broker; 32
(ii) The street address and telephone number of the data broker; 33
and 34
(iii) The data broker's primary website and email address;35
(b) Pay a fee in an amount the department specifies by rule. The 36
department shall set the fee in an amount that is sufficient to pay 37
the costs of administering the registration program as provided in 38
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RCW 43.24.086. Any fees or fines collected under the authority of 1
this chapter must be deposited into the business and professions 2
account created in RCW 43.24.150; and 3
(c) Include with the application form a declaration in which the 4
data broker: 5
(i) Indicates the type of data the data broker collects, how the 6
data is processed, who the data is sold to, and for what purposes the 7
data is sold; 8
(ii) Specifies how many resident individuals the data broker 9
collected data on each month of the previous year;10
(iii) Explains what types of security measures the data broker 11
has in place to protect their data; 12
(iv) States whether a resident individual's precise geolocation 13
information is a part of their data brokering activity;14
(v) States whether resident individuals' consumer health data, as 15
defined in RCW 19.373.010, is a part of their data brokering 16
activity; 17
(vi) States whether resident individuals may opt out of all or a 18
portion of the data broker's use of their brokered personal data;19
(vii)(A) Identifies which of the data broker's activities a 20
resident individual may opt out of; and 21
(B) Identifies which portion of the resident individual's 22
brokered personal data the resident individual may opt out of 23
providing or permitting the data broker to use; 24
(viii) Describes the method by which a resident individual may 25
exercise the choices described in (vi) and (vii) of this subsection 26
(1)(c); and 27
(ix) States whether a resident individual may authorize an 28
individual to exercise the choice described in (vi) of this 29
subsection (1)(c) on the resident individual's behalf and, if so, the 30
appropriate process for the authorization. 31
(2) If a data broker complies with the requirements set forth in 32
this section, the department must approve the registration. A 33
registration under this section is valid until January 1st of the 34
year after the department approves the registration.35
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The department shall make the information 36
that business entities submit for registration under this chapter 37
publicly available on the department's website.38
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NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) The uniform regulation of business and 1
professions act, chapter 18.235 RCW governs unregistered practice, 2
the issuance and denial of registration, and the discipline of 3
registrants under this chapter.4
(2) If the registrant is an individual, the department shall 5
immediately suspend the registration of a person who has been 6
certified pursuant to RCW 74.20A.320 by the department of social and 7
health services as a person who is not in compliance with a support 8
order. If the person has continued to meet all other requirements for 9
reinstatement during the suspension, reissuance of the registration 10
shall be automatic upon the department's receipt of a release issued 11
by the department of social and health services stating that the 12
registrant is in compliance with the order. 13
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The department may adopt rules that are 14
necessary to implement the provisions of this chapter.15
Sec. 8. RCW 18.235.020 and 2024 c 50 s 2 are each amended to 16
read as follows: 17
(1) This chapter applies only to the director and the boards and 18
commissions having jurisdiction in relation to the businesses and 19
professions licensed under the chapters specified in this section. 20
This chapter does not apply to any business or profession not 21
licensed under the chapters specified in this section.22
(2)(a) The director has authority under this chapter in relation 23
to the following businesses and professions: 24
(i) Auctioneers under chapter 18.11 RCW; 25
(ii) Bail bond agents and bail bond recovery agents under chapter 26
18.185 RCW; 27
(iii) Camping resorts' operators and salespersons under chapter 28
19.105 RCW; 29
(iv) Commercial telephone solicitors under chapter 19.158 RCW;30
(v) Cosmetologists, barbers, manicurists, and estheticians under 31
chapter 18.16 RCW; 32
(vi) Court reporters under chapter 18.145 RCW;33
(vii) Driver training schools and instructors under chapter 46.82 34
RCW; 35
(viii) Employment agencies under chapter 19.31 RCW;36
(ix) For hire vehicle operators under chapter 46.72 RCW;37
(x) Limousines under chapter 46.72A RCW; 38
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(xi) Notaries public under chapter 42.45 RCW; 1
(xii) Private investigators under chapter 18.165 RCW;2
(xiii) Professional boxing, martial arts, and wrestling under 3
chapter 67.08 RCW; 4
(xiv) Real estate appraisers under chapter 18.140 RCW;5
(xv) Real estate brokers and salespersons under chapters 18.85 6
and 18.86 RCW; 7
(xvi) Scrap metal processors, scrap metal recyclers, and scrap 8
metal suppliers under chapter 19.290 RCW; 9
(xvii) Security guards under chapter 18.170 RCW;10
(xviii) Sellers of travel under chapter 19.138 RCW;11
(xix) Timeshares and timeshare salespersons under chapter 64.36 12
RCW; 13
(xx) Whitewater river outfitters under chapter 79A.60 RCW;14
(xxi) Home inspectors under chapter 18.280 RCW;15
(xxii) Body artists, body piercers, and tattoo artists, and body 16
art, body piercing, and tattooing shops and businesses, under chapter 17
18.300 RCW; and 18
(xxiii) Appraisal management companies under chapter 18.310 RCW; 19
and20
(xxiv) Data brokers under chapter 19.--- RCW (the new chapter 21
created in section 9 of this act). 22
(b) The boards and commissions having authority under this 23
chapter are as follows: 24
(i) The state board for architects established in chapter 18.08 25
RCW; 26
(ii) The Washington state collection agency board established in 27
chapter 19.16 RCW; 28
(iii) The state board of registration for professional engineers 29
and land surveyors established in chapter 18.43 RCW governing 30
licenses issued under chapters 18.43 and 18.210 RCW;31
(iv) The funeral and cemetery board established in chapter 18.39 32
RCW governing licenses issued under chapters 18.39 and 68.05 RCW;33
(v) The state board of licensure for landscape architects 34
established in chapter 18.96 RCW; and 35
(vi) The state geologist licensing board established in chapter 36
18.220 RCW. 37
(3) In addition to the authority to discipline license holders, 38
the disciplinary authority may grant or deny licenses based on the 39
conditions and criteria established in this chapter, chapter 18.415 40
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RCW, and the chapters specified in subsection (2) of this section. 1
This chapter also governs any investigation, hearing, or proceeding 2
relating to denial of licensure or issuance of a license conditioned 3
on the applicant's compliance with an order entered under RCW 4
18.235.110 by the disciplinary authority. 5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. Sections 2 through 7 of this act 6
constitute a new chapter in Title 19 RCW.7
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