Technology

Nebraska's LB 525, the Agricultural Data Privacy Act, requires businesses collecting farm-related data to obtain explicit written consent from agricultural producers before using or sharing their information. It prohibits denying services, benefits, or rewards to farmers who decline to share data and bans selling or sharing farm data without authorization. The law defines "agricultural data" broadly - including crop yields, GPS equipment data, financial records, and livestock transactions - and mandates that businesses delete such data within 30 days if a farmer revokes consent. The Attorney General enforces the law, with penalties for violations, while excluding data owned by farmers themselves (e.g., when farmers use their own data). This act directly affects Nebraska farmers and ag-tech companies processing farm data, ensuring greater control over sensitive agricultural information.

This Nebraska bill (LB 596) updates how legal notices and publications required by law must be distributed. It allows notices to be published online via digital news platforms (without print options) and adds a new requirement: all such notices must also be posted on a statewide website repository maintained by Nebraska newspapers, starting October 1, 2022. The bill keeps existing newspaper publication rules in place but mandates the online posting as an additional step. It directly affects government entities, courts, and businesses that must publish legal notices, as well as newspapers and digital platforms that distribute them. The change ensures notices are accessible both through traditional media and a centralized online system.