HB 462 North Carolina House · 2025-2026 Session

Personal Data Privacy/Social Media Safety.

HB 462, titled the "Personal Data Privacy/Social Media Safety Act," aims to protect North Carolinians by enacting two main components: the Personal Data Privacy Act and the Social Media Safety Act. The provided text details the "North Carolina Personal Data Privacy Act," which is set to take effect on January 1, 2026. This act establishes definitions for key terms such as "personal data," "biometric data," "precise geolocation data," and "consent," affecting North Carolina residents as "consumers" and entities that process their data as "controllers." It also outlines the framework for consumer rights regarding their personal data.

Issues: ✓ Technology

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Mar 19, 2025 Last action Apr 29, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Edition 1 → Edition 2 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill version was revised to expand the definition of biometric data and child abuse while removing several other definitions. The changes clarify what types of data are protected and how child abuse is defined for privacy purposes, potentially affecting how businesses handle sensitive information and interact with minors.

Scope change

The bill's scope was modified to include audio/video recordings and derived data from photographs under biometric data exclusions, and to broaden the definition of child abuse for privacy law purposes.

DEFINITION

The definition of biometric data was expanded to explicitly include audio or video recordings and data generated from digital or physical photographs, unless the data is generated to identify a specific individual.

The definition of child abuse was changed from referencing Chapter 14 of the General Statutes to referencing G.S. 7B-101 regarding abused juveniles, broadening the legal standard for what constitutes child abuse in this context.

Several definitions were removed including business associate, COPPA, covered entity, and dark pattern, which may indicate these terms will be defined elsewhere or are no longer needed in this version of the bill.

New requirements were added to the de-identified data definition, requiring controllers to take reasonable measures to prevent association with individuals and publicly commit to not re-identify the data.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 29, 2025

Committee

Re-ref Com On Commerce and Economic Development

lower

Apr 29, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav Com Substitute

lower

Apr 17, 2025

Committee

Re-ref to the Com on Judiciary 3, if favorable, Commerce and Economic Development, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Mar 20, 2025

Committee

Ref to the Com on Judiciary 2, if favorable, Commerce and Economic Development, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Mar 19, 2025

Introduced

Filed

lower

3 primary · 22 co-sponsors