State Senator James Maroney (D-Milford) this week joined technology industry professionals at the International Association of Privacy Professionals’ Global Privacy Summit in Washington D.C. to discuss his ongoing efforts to support youth data privacy in Connecticut and beyond. Sen. Maroney joined experts including Manmeet Dhindsa, an attorney for the Federal Trade Commission’s division of Privacy and Identity Protection and Sarah Holland, public policy manager at Google, to discuss trends and patterns in state privacy and safety in tech and data spaces.

“Connecticut is becoming a national leader in passing data protections supporting youth, and it’s great to have this opportunity to address industry leaders and minds on our successes here,” said Sen. Maroney. “I’m glad to discuss our efforts to impose proper guardrails on use of artificial intelligence, as well as recent years’ bills supporting children’s privacy and government use of AI. This technology is important and can represent significant breakthroughs; we need to make sure those breakthroughs are positive.”

On Wednesday, Sen. Maroney participated in “The State of Play: an Overview of Kids’ and Teens’ Privacy in the US,” a panel that delved into the online privacy and safety landscape for youth in the United States, what federal decisions may be made in the future and how state legislatures are delving into the issue.

Sen. Maroney addressed current legislation in consideration during the 2024 legislative session in Connecticut intended to provide guidance and direction on how artificial intelligence can and can’t be used, and his discussion also centered 2023’s Senate Bill 3. That overarching bill set requirements for how certain online services, products and features manage personal data for minors, including supporting the prevention of risk of harm to a minor, as well as prohibiting services from processing youth personal data without consent.

The IAPP Global Privacy Summit is the world’s largest forum for discussions and explorations of privacy and data protection laws, intended for industry leaders, technologists and entrepreneurs to delve into the ways data is increasingly used and collected around the world.