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HB 78PENNSYLVANIASession 2025-2026State Billdead

Did Not Advance

Pennsylvania House Bill 78 establishes consumer data privacy rights and business obligations

Original title: An Act providing for consumer data privacy, for duties of controllers and for duties of processors; and imposing penalties.

Last action · October 6, 2026: Removed from table, Oct. 6, 2026Sponsors: Ed Neilson and 25 others

Bill progressHistory & official text ↓

Introduced

Committee

Floor Vote

Passed

Law

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Public stanceCommunity reactions are separate from the official record and reporting.

What This Bill Proposed

Pennsylvania House Bill 78 establishes comprehensive consumer data privacy rights, allowing residents to access, correct, delete, and obtain copies of their personal data, as well as opt out of , data sales, and certain profiling. The bill imposes strict compliance duties on data s and s, and grants the Attorney General exclusive enforcement authority under the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law without creating a private right of action.

Why it matters

Residents gain legal authority to control how businesses collect and monetize their personal information, while commercial entities meeting specific revenue or data-volume thresholds must overhaul their data handling and consent mechanisms or face state penalties.

Who It Would Have Affected

Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

Pennsylvania consumers

Consumers obtain enforceable legal rights to access, correct, delete, and restrict the sale or sharing of their personal data.

Directly affected

Commercial data controllers

For-profit businesses meeting revenue or data-volume thresholds must implement consumer request mechanisms, privacy notices, data protection assessments, and restrictions on data sharing.

Directly affected

Attorney General

The Attorney General receives exclusive enforcement authority and the power to investigate data protection assessments and issue notices of violation.

Not affected

Nonprofit organizations

Nonprofit organizations are explicitly excluded from the nonapplicability provisions of the act.

Key Facts

You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.

Frequently Asked Questions

What rights do Pennsylvania residents gain under House Bill 78?

Residents gain the right to confirm whether a business is processing their personal data, correct inaccuracies, delete data, obtain a portable copy of their data, and opt out of , data sales, and certain profiling decisions.

Can individual citizens sue companies directly for violating this data privacy act?

No. The bill explicitly prohibits any private right of action. Enforcement is handled exclusively by the Attorney General.

Which businesses are required to comply with these rules?

The act applies to for-profit entities doing business in Pennsylvania that either earn over $10,000,000 in annual gross revenues, process the personal data of 100,000 or more consumers or devices, or derive at least 50% of annual revenues from selling personal data.

Are non-profit organizations and government agencies covered by this bill?

No. The act explicitly exempts the Commonwealth, its political subdivisions, non-profit organizations, institutions of higher education, financial institutions, and HIPAA-covered entities.

What else do you want to know?

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

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Where This Stands

This bill did not become law - Tabled in the Senate.

Procedural history

18 actions

Oct 6, 2026Senate
Removed from table, Oct. 6, 2026
Oct 6, 2026Senate
Laid on the table, Oct. 6, 2026
Jun 25, 2026SenateFloor
Second consideration, June 25, 2026
Jun 24, 2026SenateIntroduced
First consideration, June 24, 2026
Jun 24, 2026Senate
Re-reported as amended, June 24, 2026
Feb 4, 2026SenateCommittee
Re-referred to COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY, Feb. 4, 2026

Show 12 earlier actions

Feb 4, 2026SenateCommittee
Reported as committed, Feb. 4, 2026
Oct 3, 2025SenateCommittee
Referred to CONSUMER PROTECTION AND PROFESSIONAL LICENSURE, Oct. 3, 2025
Oct 3, 2025Senate
In the Senate
Oct 1, 2025HouseFloor
Third consideration and final passage, Oct. 1, 2025 (127-76)
Oct 1, 2025HouseCommittee
Re-reported as committed, Oct. 1, 2025
Apr 23, 2025House
Re-committed to APPROPRIATIONS, April 23, 2025
Apr 23, 2025HouseFloor
Second consideration, with amendments, April 23, 2025
Apr 22, 2025House
Removed from table, April 22, 2025
Mar 18, 2025House
Laid on the table, March 18, 2025
Mar 18, 2025HouseIntroduced
First consideration, March 18, 2025
Mar 18, 2025House
Reported as amended, March 18, 2025
Jan 14, 2025HouseCommittee
Referred to COMMERCE, Jan. 14, 2025

Version history & redline

4 versions on file

Comparing Printer's No. 1476 → Printer's No. 3688

PENNYCUICK

removed addedOfficial text

SENATE AMENDED PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 65, 1024 1024, 1476 PRINTER'S NO. 1476 3688 THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE BILL No. 78 Session of 2025 INTRODUCED BY NEILSON, SCIALABBA, HOWARD, MENTZER, LEADBETER, SANCHEZ, HILL-EVANS, GIRAL, FRANKEL, KHAN, ARMANINI, WARREN, FREEMAN, OTTEN, ZIMMERMAN, GILLEN, CIRESI, T. DAVIS DAVIS, K. HARRIS, INGLIS, SCHLEGEL, SCOTT, M. BROWN, HANBIDGE, PIELLI AND K.HARRIS, MUNROE, JANUARY 14, 2025 SENATOR PENNYCUICK, COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY, IN SENATE, RE-REPORTED AS AMENDED ON SECOND CONSIDERATION, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, APRIL 23, 2025 AMENDED, JUNE 24, 2026 AN ACT Providing for consumer data privacy, for duties of controllers and for duties of processors; and imposing penalties. The General Assembly of the […] another legal entity or controls, is controlled by or is under common control with another legal entity. "Biometric data." Data generated by automatic measurements of an individual's biological characteristics, including<--

Redline computed from the official version text (record lane).View this version →

Lobbying Activity

No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.

Full breakdown

Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.

Related Legislation

State Bill

Pennsylvania bans algorithmic rent-setting software under consumer protection law

Pennsylvania House Bill 140 amends the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law to classify the use of algorithmic rent-setting software as

Discoveries

1 pattern noticed across the record

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift98% confidence

Establishment of Comprehensive State Privacy Framework

Pennsylvania introduces statutory consumer data rights and commercial compliance mandates while explicitly barring private lawsuits and delegating exclusive enforcement to the Attorney General.

Attorney General

Connected Entities

Carol Hill-Evans, Dan Frankel, Robert Leadbeter and 11 more

PersonCarol Hill-Evans“Cosponsor of House Bill 78”Map →

PersonDan Frankel“Cosponsor of House Bill 78”Map →

PersonRobert Leadbeter“Cosponsor of House Bill 78”Map →

OrganizationAttorney General“Exclusive enforcement authority for the act”Map →

PersonMike Armanini“Cosponsor of House Bill 78”Map →

OrganizationFederal Trade Commission“Federal agency referenced regarding dark patterns”Map →

PersonPENNYCUICK“Senator in Communications and Technology committee”Map →

PersonSCIALABBA“Cosponsor of House Bill 78”Map →

PersonEd Neilson“Primary sponsor of House Bill 78”Map →

PersonTarik Khan“Cosponsor of House Bill 78”Map →

PersonKristine Howard“Cosponsor of House Bill 78”Map →

PersonJosé Giral“Cosponsor of House Bill 78”Map →

PersonSteve Mentzer“Cosponsor of House Bill 78”Map →

PersonBen Sanchez“Cosponsor of House Bill 78”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.palegis.us

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance20
Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 85)
Controversy60
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment10
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz45
Current news / social attention level

Publisher tools

What This Bill Proposed

Who It Would Have Affected

Key Facts

Frequently Asked Questions

News Coverage

Where This Stands

Procedural history

Version history & redline

Lobbying Activity

Full breakdown

Sponsors

Related Legislation

Pennsylvania bans algorithmic rent-setting software under consumer protection law

Discoveries

Establishment of Comprehensive State Privacy Framework

Connected Entities

Sources

Analysis Score

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