Nevada Amends Privacy Law for Opting Out of the Sale of Personal Information

Written by: Charles R. Langhorne IV, Esq. and Alyssa J. Feliciano, Esq.

Nevada law already allows individuals to “opt out” of allowing a business to sell their personal information.  On June 2, 2021, Nevada Governor, Steve Sisolak, signed SB 260, which amended the definition of “sale”.  This change means that the existing law will become broader in its application, thus allowing Nevada residents to opt out of businesses selling their personal information in additional circumstances.

The existing internet privacy law, NRS 603A.300-360, was among Nevada’s initial attempts to provide legislation that required notice regarding information collected from consumers on the internet.  It defined activity that would be considered a “sale” narrowly.

Changes to Definition of “Sales”

The definition of “sale” was revised to:

“The exchange of covered information for monetary consideration by an operator or data broker to another person.”

The changes now include “data brokers” in addition to operators and removed the language requiring it to be “for the person to license or sell the covered information to additional persons.”

The new legislation removed language from the definition of “sales” that narrowly specified the activities that would fall under a sale.  These changes will result in a more expansive application of a sale, providing more circumstances in which Nevada residents may opt out of the sale of their personal information.

Who Will Be Impacted?

The definition of an “operator” was changed and a new category, “data broker”, was added.

1. 1. 1. An “operator” now explicitly excludes from its definition “a person who does not collect, maintain or sell covered information.” This will not result in any substantive changes to who the law applies to, but rather makes explicit that the described individuals will not be covered.
      2. A “data broker” is defined as: “a person whose primary business is purchasing covered information about consumers with whom the person does not have a direct relationship and who reside in this State from operators or other data brokers and making sales of such covered information.”

Overview of Changes

There are two noteworthy changes.  First, the amendments will expand the application of a “sale” to include more activities, which will result in more Nevada residents being covered under the law.  The second meaningful change is the addition of the category “data brokers”, which explicitly expands the individuals that will be subject to the law.  Nevada’s internet privacy law continues to remain narrower than others, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act.

When is it Effective?

The Act will go into force on October 1, 2021.