Meghan O’Connor, Simone Colgan Dunlap, Sarah Erdmann and Kaitlyn Fydenkevez Author ABA Article About New Reproductive and Sexual Health Privacy law and Its Potential Broad Applicability and Operational Challenges
Meghan O’Connor, Simone Colgan Dunlap, Sarah Erdmann and Kaitlyn Fydenkevez, all members of the Quarles & Brady Health & Life Sciences Practice Group, wrote an article for the American Bar Association about amendments to the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The amendments include regulations on obtaining and disclosing reproductive and sexual health information during consumer transactions. This change can potentially affect a wide range of businesses that handle this type of information.
An excerpt:
The March 2025 amendment to the Act requires suppliers to obtain consent (i.e., a clear affirmative act) from consumers prior to obtaining, disclosing, selling, or disseminating any personally identifiable reproductive or sexual health information.
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Additionally, unlike other consumer data privacy laws, the Act does not include an opt-in exemption for “necessary processing,” i.e., processing of consumer data necessary to provide consumer-requested products and services. Thus, implementing a process to obtain consent without impairing the user experience will likely be a challenge.