Georgia: An Overview of Data Protection & Data Privacy Law

Data is a valuable resource for every business worldwide. Its significance has increased twofold with the advent of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). After all, vast volumes of data are now leveraged to train large language models (LLMs) or fine-tune existing AI systems for accuracy, reliability, and efficiency.

Regardless, the emergence of GenAI has further brought forth a series of unprecedented risks, such as AI poisoning, AI prompt injection, or model theft. Recognizing the dire need for appropriate security and privacy controls, governments across the globe are putting immense effort into proposing data and AI laws. Many states in the US have enacted data privacy and protection laws. However, many states, such as Georgia, have yet to propose or implement a law.

The Current Status in Georgia

In this context, the state of Georgia has no dedicated or comprehensive data regulation. However, the state recognizes the need for a regulatory framework and ensures that businesses operating in the state comply with the various federal regulations.

Federal Laws and Regulations

In the absence of a comprehensive state data privacy or protection law, it’s crucial for businesses to learn more about the federal laws that may impact their operations in the state of Georgia. For instance, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires businesses to safeguard protected health information (PHI). The federal law applies to all businesses and services that deal with patient records, healthcare services, and healthcare plan providers.

HIPAA outlines a detailed set of national standards to safeguard patients' medical records and other personal health data. It requires covered entities to establish appropriate mechanisms to protect the privacy of PHI. It restricts the use and disclosure of PHI without the individual's consent. It further provides patients with data subject rights over their PHI, such as the right to obtain a copy of their PHI, the right to request corrections, and the right to examine data.

Another important federal regulation that businesses must never overlook is the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA). The regulation's objective is to safeguard the financial information of individuals collected, stored, and used by financial institutions, securities firms, banks, and insurance agencies, to name a few. The act requires covered entities to create and provide individuals with privacy policies and notices at the beginning of their customer relationships. It provides customers with the right to opt out of disclosures of their non-public data to third parties and services. It further requires that financial services maintain strict information security standards and controls to safeguard the sensitive information of customers.

Similarly, there is also the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act), which was enacted to prevent unfair or deceptive practices and maintain fair competition. The Act empowers the FTC authority to implement antitrust laws to curb fraudulent activities, such as calls for investigation into and prevention of anti-competition mergers and acquisitions, etc.

Business Best Practices

Businesses that are operating in the state are required to establish appropriate data management and data security practices. For instance, almost every data protection law requires businesses to implement strict data protection measures, such as encryption, sensitive data redaction or masking, firewalls, etc. These practices encourage transparent data handling practices.

To further encourage transparency, businesses are also required to create and publish privacy notices that inform individuals or customers about data collection, usage, and management practices. Businesses are further required to comply with industry-specific standards and frameworks. These frameworks are built to enhance data management practices, mitigate risks, and encourage responsible use of data and AI.

Individuals Privacy Rights

Data subject privacy rights also hold great importance when it comes to compliance. Businesses should develop a streamlined process to enable individuals to submit their data subject requests easily. Furthermore, businesses should encourage efficient data management practices to reduce the time it takes to discover data and map it with individuals and geographies, enabling timely DSRs.

Employee Awareness Training

Employee data management training and awareness sessions are also very important. Many data privacy regulations and industry standards demand businesses carry out awareness training sessions to inform employees about cybersecurity and privacy management hygiene practices. After all, most data breaches occur due to human error, such as unintentional sensitive data exposure.

Looking Ahead

Georgia still has a long way to go when it comes to proposing state-specific data protection regulations. However, there are ongoing developments in this space, and the state authorities are making every effort to enable the best data management practices.