§ 42-518 — Consumers' rights. Compliance by Controllers. Appeals.

(a) A consumer shall have the right to: (1) Confirm whether or not a controller is processing the consumer's personal data and access such personal data, unless such confirmation or access would require the controller to reveal a trade secret; (2) correct inaccuracies in the consumer's personal data, taking into account the nature of the personal data and the purposes of the processing of the consumer's personal data; (3) delete personal data provided by, or obtained about, the consumer; (4) obtain a copy of the consumer's personal data processed by the controller, in a portable and, to the extent technically feasible, readily usable format that allows the consumer to transmit the data to another controller without hindrance, where the processing is carried out by automated means, provided such controller shall not be required to reveal any trade secret; and (5) opt out of the processing of the personal data for purposes of (A) targeted advertising, (B) the sale of personal data, except as provided in subsection (b) of section 42-520, or (C) profiling in furtherance of solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning the consumer. (b) A consumer may exercise rights under this section by a secure and reliable means established by the controller and described to the consumer in the controller's privacy notice. A consumer may designate an authorized agent in accordance with section 42-519 to exercise the rights of such consumer to opt out of the processing of such consumer's personal data for purposes of subdivision (5) of subsection (a) of this section on behalf of the consumer. In the case of processing personal data of a known child, the parent or legal guardian may exercise such consumer rights on the child's behalf. In the case of processing personal data concerning a consumer subject to a guardianship, conservatorship or other protective arrangement, the guardian or the conservator of the consumer may exercise such rights on the consumer's behalf. (c) Except as otherwise provided in sections 42-515 to 42-525 , inclusive, a controller shall comply with a request by a consumer to exercise the consumer rights authorized pursuant to said sections as follows: (1) A controller shall respond to the consumer without undue delay, but not later than forty-five days after receipt of the request. The controller may extend the response period by forty-five additional days when reasonably necessary, considering the complexity and number of the consumer's requests, provided the controller informs the consumer of any such extension within the initial forty-five-day response period and of the reason for the extension. (2) If a controller declines to take action regarding the consumer's request, the controller shall inform the consumer without undue delay, but not later than forty-five days after receipt of the request, of the justification for declining to take action and instructions for how to appeal the decision. (3) Information provided in response to a consumer request shall be provided by a controller, free of charge, once per consumer during any twelve-month period. If requests from a consumer are manifestly unfounded, excessive or repetitive, the controller may charge the consumer a reasonable fee to cover the administrative costs of complying with the request or decline to act on the request. The controller bears the burden of demonstrating the manifestly unfounded, excessive or repetitive nature of the request. (4) If a controller is unable to authenticate a request to exercise any of the rights afforded under subdivisions (1) to (4), inclusive, of subsection (a) of this section using commercially reasonable efforts, the controller shall not be required to comply with a request to initiate an action pursuant to this section and shall provide notice to the consumer that the controller is unable to authenticate the request to exercise such right or rights until such consumer provides additional information reasonably necessary to authenticate such consumer and such consumer's request to exercise such right or rights. A controller shall not be required to authenticate an opt-out request, but a controller may deny an opt-out request if the controller has a good faith, reasonable and documented belief that such request is fraudulent. If a controller denies an opt-out request because the controller believes such request is fraudulent, the controller shall send a notice to the person who made such request disclosing that such controller believes such request is fraudulent, why such controller believes such request is fraudulent and that such controller shall not comply with such request. (5) A controller that has obtained personal data about a consumer from a source other than the consumer shall be deemed in compliance with a consumer's request to delete such data pursuant to subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of this section by (A) retaining a record of the deletion request and the minimum data necessary for the purpose of ensuring the consumer's personal data remains deleted from the controller's records and not using such retained data for any other purpose pursuant to the provisions of sections 42-515 to 42-525 , inclusive, or (B) opting the consumer out of the processing of such personal data for any purpose except for those exempted pursuant to the provisions of sections 42-515 to 42-525 , inclusive. (d) A controller shall establish a process for a consumer to appeal the controller's refusal to take action on a request within a reasonable period of time after the consumer's receipt of the decision. The appeal process shall be conspicuously available and similar to the process for submitting requests to initiate action pursuant to this section. Not later than sixty days after receipt of an appeal, a controller shall inform the consumer in writing of any action taken or not taken in response to the appeal, including a written explanation of the reasons for the decisions. If the appeal is denied, the controller shall also provide the consumer with an online mechanism, if available, or other method through which the consumer may contact the Attorney General to submit a complaint.

Legislative History

(P.A. 22-15, S. 4.) History: P.A. 22-15 effective July 1, 2023.