Maine Lawmakers Advance Bill Regulating Corporate Use of Biometric Data

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Maine is looking to enact tougher regulations about corporate collection of biometric data.

The proposal before the Maine Legislature would require companies to get consent before they collect biometric information such as facial features, voices and fingerprints. It would also ban companies from selling biometric data and set rules about how long they are able to keep it.

The proposal has won support in the Maine Legislature’s Judiciary Committee and is expected to go before the full Legislature.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Maggie O’Neil of Saco, said the new rules are important in an era when companies are collecting more and more data from private citizens.

“It is no secret that our personal information is collected, used and monetized at an alarming rate,” O’Neil said. “In Maine, there are essentially no restrictions on the ways that Big Tech and other corporations can collect our biometric data, and what they can do with our data.”

Democrats, Republicans and independents have all supported the bill.