Connecticut privacy changes take effect, with pricing limits
Connecticut's updated privacy law began on 1 October. It bans sales of precise location data, limits surveillance pricing and widens deletion rights.
Amendments to the Connecticut Data Privacy Act took effect on 1 October 2026 under Public Act 26-64, known as Senate Bill 4 before it was signed in May. The law bans the sale of precise location data, limits surveillance pricing, narrows what counts as publicly available data, and gives residents more power to delete information held about them.
Why it matters
Surveillance pricing means setting a price for one person based on their personal data, and algorithms and AI tools can do this at scale. Connecticut now restricts the practice, with limited exceptions for loyalty and retention programs. Where a price-setting device raises a price using personal data, the seller must say so. The required notice begins "THIS PRICE WAS INCREASED BY A PRICE SETTING DEVICE".
Other changes reach further than pricing:
- Location: data that places a person within 1,750 feet can no longer be sold. WilmerHale notes that sharing at a consumer's own direction is not treated as a sale.
- Deletion: the right now covers certain public information compiled into profiles or offered for sale, plus inferences drawn from it.
- Data brokers: brokers must register with the state by 1 January 2027. A single deletion tool must exist by 1 July 2028, and brokers must start using it from 1 October 2028.
The state's reach also grew through earlier amendments in force since 1 July. A business in Connecticut is now covered if it handles the personal data of at least 35,000 consumers, handles sensitive data, or offers personal data for sale. That can include small companies. Separately, CT Mirror reports that rules requiring chatbots to disclose they are not human start on 1 January 2027.
What you can do
- If you live in Connecticut, ask companies that build profiles on you to delete that data, including inferences.
- Review which phone apps can see your precise location, and turn it off where an app does not need it.
- If you run a small team, check whether the sensitive data or 35,000 consumer tests apply to you. Your lawyer can confirm this against the enacted text.
- If you use a pricing tool, ask the vendor whether it uses personal data to set prices.
- If you buy location data or marketing lists, ask suppliers how they are meeting the new rules.
This is a summary of published legal commentary, not legal advice.
Sources
- Mintz: Connecticut adopts far-reaching amendments
- WilmerHale: Connecticut amends its Data Privacy Act
- Carmody Law: new data privacy and AI laws
- CT Mirror: new AI and data privacy laws
Source: Mintz