Is Your Business Ready For 2025 State Privacy Regulations?

State-level privacy regulations in the United States are rapidly expanding, and businesses should brace for a significant year ahead. In 2025, eight comprehensive state data privacy laws will take effect, reflecting a growing regulatory momentum as states push businesses to adapt to increasingly complex compliance requirements across jurisdictions. For businesses, the compliance challenge will lie in understanding the nuances of each law while maintaining consistent operational practices across multiple jurisdictions.

For organizations already navigating existing laws like California’s CCPA/CPRA or Virginia’s CDPA, compliance adjustments for the new laws may seem manageable—but not without complexity. Below, we break down the eight laws taking effect in 2025, their unique requirements, and the key steps businesses can prioritize to prepare.

Eight New State Privacy Laws: Effective Dates, Thresholds, and Penalties

What Employers Need to Know

Varying Applicability Thresholds

While most laws impose thresholds based on the number of consumers whose data is processed, there are exceptions. Nebraska’s NDPA applies broadly to all organizations operating in the state unless they qualify as a small business under federal SBA definitions. Meanwhile, Tennessee adds a revenue threshold ($25 million) in addition to processing requirements.

Businesses that derive significant revenue from selling consumer data face lower thresholds for compliance, such as New Jersey’s NJDPA and Delaware’s DPDPA, which trigger applicability at just 25,000 and 10,000 consumers, respectively.

Consumer Rights and Unique State Requirements

The new privacy laws largely align with established standards, offering consumers rights to access, correct, delete, and port their personal data, as well as opt out of data sales, targeted advertising, and profiling. However, certain states include unique obligations that businesses must address:

• Delaware, Minnesota, and Maryland require businesses to provide a list of third parties with whom a consumer’s personal data has been shared.
• Minnesota (MCDPA) allows consumers to contest profiling decisions, request a review of the data used, and receive explanations for outcomes (e.g., employment or credit decisions).
• Maryland (MODPA) prohibits the sale of sensitive data outright, limits data collection to what is “reasonably necessary,” and mandates regular privacy assessments for high-risk activities—including any algorithm use, however the term “algorithm” is not defined.

Employers conducting background checks should note that these laws generally exempt data collected under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). However, businesses should still confirm compliance with broader data handling and notification obligations.

Cure Periods and Penalties for Non-Compliance

Cure periods allow businesses an opportunity to remedy violations before enforcement actions proceed, but they vary by state:

Penalties for violations range from $7,500 to $25,000 per instance, with heightened risks for intentional violations, such as under Tennessee’s TIPA.

How to Prepare for Compliance

Evaluate Applicability:

• Assess whether your business meets the threshold criteria under each state law.
• Conduct a comprehensive data mapping exercise to understand what data you collect, where it is stored, and how it is processed.

Update Privacy Policies:

• Ensure your privacy policy meets the requirements of applicable laws, including categories of personal data collected, purposes for processing, and consumers’ rights.
• Add disclosures for third-party data sharing, where required (e.g., Delaware, Minnesota, Maryland).

Enhance Rights Request Workflows:

• Update processes for handling access, deletion, correction, and opt-out requests in line with state-specific requirements.
• Implement functionality to honor universal opt-out mechanisms, such as Global Privacy Control signals, where required.

Conduct Privacy Impact Assessments:

• States like Maryland and Minnesota mandate assessments for high-risk processing activities, including profiling and the use of algorithms.
• Develop a framework to evaluate potential risks and document compliance.

Train Teams and Update Contracts:

• Train employees responsible for managing consumer data on new rights and obligations.
• Update contracts with third-party processors to ensure compliance with state requirements for data processing agreements.

Parting Thoughts

The continued growth of state privacy laws signals a clear trend: consumers demand more control over their personal information, and states are responding in the absence of federal legislation. For businesses, the 2025 laws underscore the importance of proactive privacy compliance. By assessing applicability, streamlining processes for rights requests, and maintaining clear and up-to-date privacy notices, organizations can minimize risks while building consumer trust in an increasingly regulated landscape.

In a fragmented regulatory environment, the path forward is clear: prioritize transparency, accountability, and the responsible use of data—not just for compliance, but as a competitive advantage.