The NAIC’s Privacy Protections (H) Working Group met over the weekend as part of the NAIC’s Summer National Meeting. The working group announced that later in the year it will seek an extension on its efforts to create a unified privacy model act (#674) which will likely push back final adoption into sometime next year. Multiple states have publicly announced that they will not support the current proposed Version 1.2, and at least one state referred to it as fundamentally flawed. The opposed states do not want to move forward with the current version. The Chair announced that the working group will continue to receive public comments while it digests comments previously received and continues the direct one-on-one outreach to companies and trades.

At some point in the fall, the working group will publish a redlined revised version, subject to public comment, and seek an extension into 2024; to quote the Chair, Virginia Commissioner Johnson, “it’s too important a topic to rush.” The expectation remains that there will be a revised unified privacy model, but approval has been pushed back to sometime next year. HIPAA and GLB will continue to be front of mind, as will workstreams currently underway by other working groups under the umbrella of the Innovation, Cybersecurity and Technology (H) Committee.

Locke Lord will continue to monitor developments at the H Committee and its constituent working groups. If you have any questions, please reach out to the author or your Locke Lord partner.