State Data Privacy Regulators Are Coming. What Story Will You Tell Them?State Data Privacy Regulators Are Coming. What Story Will You Tell Them?

If you get a call from John Eakins at the Delaware Attorney General's office, you've already filed a data breach notice with the state, so you know there's a problem. What information security teams do next could mean the difference between getting slapped with a hefty fine or getting off with a warning, along with your reputation intact.

Delaware Deputy Attorney General Eakins is in charge of enforcing the new state regulations under the Delaware Personal Data Privacy Act (DPDPA), first passed by lawmakers in 2023 and just coming into effect on Jan. 1. He says organizations operating in Delaware should expect a call from his office after reporting a major breach. Then he is going to want to drill down on two specific criteria: the harm caused and whether it can be fixed.

"They should expect to be asked to provide information about the breach, an assessment of the harm caused, and the sensitivity of the data that was breached," Eakins tells Dark Reading. But that doesn't necessarily mean enforcement is imminent, he adds. Companies are offered what's known as a "right to cure," in Delaware along with many other states, meaning if the error that led to the breach can get fixed within a range of 30 to 60 days, the company won't be penalized.

That's where it becomes critical for organizations and their data security teams to have a "story to tell," according to Andreas Kaltsounis, an attorney and partner with BakerHostetler, who works with data privacy regulators on behalf of clients.

State Privacy Laws, Enforcement on the Rise

Twenty states, including Delaware, have passed data privacy regulations as of 2025, but these new laws aren't really necessary for states to levy penalties for data breaches, Kaltsounis points out. Federal law could be used in many of these instances, half the states already have information security requirements on the books, and nearly all the states have some form of an "unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices" (UDAP) law, which could also be used as enforcement mechanisms for many data breach instances, he adds.

What new privacy legislation has done for regulators isn't so much putting rules on the books — it's allocating more money toward enforcing lax data privacy among organizations, including money to hire in-house expertise. Pair that with federal deregulation under the Trump administration, and states are in a prime position to fill the gap.

Each state is picking its own lane.

Texas, for its part, is going after connected car data, filing suit against General Motors and, more recently, insurance company Allstate for collecting consumer data without complying with the new Texas Data Privacy Act (TDPSA). The Texas AG alleges the insurer was paying developers of other apps, including Life360, to incorporate secret embedded software to collect cell phone location data on Texans and then use that information to justify insurance rate hikes.

New York Attorney General Letitia James also recently fined companies, including one distributing a line of insecure home security video systems ($450,000), GEICO and Travelers insurance companies for failing to protect data ($11.3 million), and Capital Regions healthcare provider ($2.25 million) for failing to protect medical data. In December, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul expanded the AG's oversight of the cybersecurity of financial services. New York's primary enforcement efforts have been trained on the sizable financial services companies operating in its jurisdiction.

Delaware will be focused on the abuse of geolocational data and the data security of emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, Delaware's deputy AG Eakins says.

Despite the flurry of press releases, consumer advocates like the Electronic Frontier Foundation's associate director of legislative advocacy, Hayley Tsukayama, say every state should be doing much more to protect consumer data. Tsukayama points to business-friendly loopholes like the "right to cure" offered by regulators, including those in Delaware, as a "get out of jail free card," and would like to see more pressure on companies to protect sensitive data before it's too late.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is likewise unimpressed overall with state efforts on data privacy. In its recent "State of the Privacy" report, EPIC said new state laws, "...fail to protect consumers." Of the 19 states that have passed consumer privacy legislation packages, nearly half got F grades from EPIC; only California got a B, and no state received an A.

Chronic underfunding has bogged down enforcement efforts, Tsukayama says. But that's all about to change.

Delaware deputy AG Eakins said his office received a boost in funding along with the DPDPA and his office now has a full-time computer scientist to help lend expertise to their investigations. Many other states have followed suit, allocating bigger budgets for data privacy oversight along with new compliance requirements.

Get Your Data Privacy Story Right, Now

Attorney Kaltsounis says regulators are busy; in his experience, organizations with a compelling "story to tell" are going to be far better positioned to avoid penalties. That means being able to demonstrate how the organization was taking information security seriously well before the breach. He recommends a good old-fashioned data audit, purging anything sitting on an old server that isn't needed anymore. Then organizations need to double down on collecting only the data they absolutely need for the shortest period of time possible.

"They both need to be done," Kaltsounis advises.

Enterprises should treat this new regulatory environment at the state level as an opportunity to incorporate data privacy as a foundational principle of the business, according to Ryan Edge, director of strategy, privacy, and data governance with OneTrust, a data privacy services provider.

"One thing is for sure — data privacy is not going away," Edge says. "There are more than a dozen US state privacy laws in effect today. It can seem daunting, but it doesn't need to be. Companies don't have to reinvent the wheel for each law. By operationalizing data privacy, they can see benefits beyond compliance, like minimizing risk, driving data quality, and building trust with consumers."

Organizations should develop a strategy that includes data mapping, privacy impact assessments, and privacy engineering to understand how data is being used. This would help define policies such as how long data is kept, how it is protected, and how it is disposed when no longer needed.

When it comes to how the Delaware AG's office will determine where data privacy penalties are appropriate, Eakins says the state's $52 million settlement reached with Marriott for the company's lack of "providing reasonable security" is a strong starting framework. Baseline technical requirements established out of the multistate Marriott settlement include having a comprehensive information security program in place, minimizing the amount of data collected with disposal requirements and supply chain oversight. That's a good place for organizations to start.

Moving forward, Kaltsounis expects to see a "friendly competition" emerge among states to demonstrate the strongest data protection stance on behalf of their citizens. Staffed-up offices of state regulators armed with a mandate and fresh budgets are likely to start becoming a standard fixture in the aftermath of a data breach.

When they call, what story will you have to tell them?