Massachusetts passes privacy law banning sale of precise location data

The Massachusetts House voted 146-0 to pass the Consumer Data Privacy Act, mirroring an earlier unanimous Senate vote from September. Once the two chambers reconcile their versions, the combined bill heads to the governor’s desk and is expected to be signed. The law applies to any company processing data on more than 100,000 consumers, sweeping in mid-sized startups alongside the major tech and ad platforms.

The core provisions block the sale or sharing of sensitive data without explicit consent, including biometrics, genetic and health information, immigration status, religion, sexual orientation, and precise geolocation. Because the location-data ban covers both residents and visitors, it functions as a blanket prohibition within state lines — a significant blow to the data-broker pipeline that has long resold app-derived location feeds to advertisers, stalkers, and government buyers who treat commercial purchase as a workaround for warrant requirements.

The vote lands in a vacuum left by federal inaction: the Biden administration’s near-ban on bulk sensitive-data sales was scrapped under Trump, leaving states to assemble a patchwork. Privacy groups including Fight for the Future and the ACLU praised the bill as one of the stronger state-level checks on surveillance advertising and broker resale to date.