 Thank you for coming. We are here today to announce and celebrate Data Privacy Day, an international effort to raise awareness and promote privacy and data protection best practices. Also I am joined by legislative leaders from the House Commerce Committee to spotlight H-121, the Comprehensive Data Privacy Bill. After my remarks, we will hear from the Chair of that committee, Representative Michael Marcotte, and the Vice-Chair Representative Stephanie Jerome. And then we will turn it over to questions. I greatly appreciate this committee's interest and promotion of critical data privacy protections for Vermonters, a passion I share. Privacy is a Vermont value. It is embodied in our very motto freedom and unity. Part of being free means being free from unwanted intrusion. We have a long history and tradition of protecting us from unwanted intrusion, laws to protect decisions about our own bodies, trespass, peeping toms, unwarranted search and seizures, and so on. But today, 24-7 corporate surveillance can happen. Companies can know where you go, what you eat, how you're feeling. Technology is changing rapidly and our laws need to change with them. In 2018, the legislature here in Vermont was the very first to pass a law regulating data brokers. I am very proud of the work that this legislature did along with my office in getting up to speed and passing that law. And other states followed suit. But since that time, 13 states have gone several steps beyond to pass their own comprehensive data privacy bills. And we're playing catch-up at this point. So it's wonderful that we have had the space and time after the pandemic and the worker shortage and the flood. I'm so grateful that this committee is taking the time to focus on data privacy. Artificial intelligence, use of biometric information and the increasing use purchase and sale of consumer data have the potential to compromise consumer privacy for these reasons. I strongly support the work of the legislature that they're doing on the bill H-121. And that bill has highlights that I care deeply about. One is ensuring data minimization to limit the consumer information businesses collect and store. Providing an opt out for consumers, including minors, who don't want their data brokers, who don't want data brokers, collecting, buying and selling their data. Protections of biometric data, that is data about us that we cannot change, like our faces, our fingerprints or DNA, that require express consumer consent to collect or use. Our personal data is being collected, bought, stored and sold every second. You're out shopping, you're scrolling social media, you're just walking down the street. Vermonters have a right to control their own data and to take action when their data privacy has been violated. I want to list a few tips that I think can be useful when you are trying to protect your own data and then I'll turn things over to Chair Marca. One, set your social media settings to private and review data sharing features of the social media sites you use. Be aware that when you don't have to pay for an app, you're paying for it with your data. Employ your own data minimization strategy. Do not give out your personally identifiable information if you don't have to. Don't share photos of yourself or your children if you don't have to. Delete your online history. If you don't want to see ads based on your previous online activity, delete cookies and clear your browsing and search history. On your phone, delete or reset identifiers used to track you. You can disable Siri on your phone and resist the urge to install a smart speaker in your home. Deactivate or permanently delete any social media or online accounts that you no longer use. You can change your password frequently. Use dual factor authentication for all online accounts. Just a few tips. We probably have lots more. As always, I like to remind everyone of the Consumer Assistance Program who can help you through consumer issues including identity theft and data privacy and they can be reached at 1-800-649-2424. And now I will turn things over to Representative Marquardt who's chair of the House Commerce Committee. Thank you Attorney General Clark. We've worked together a long time on consumer protection, which this is a consumer protection, data privacy. I think we've started, I started working in this realm as vice chair of the committee under and working with Chair Bill Botzo. And we continue to continue to focus on the data privacy throughout my time as chair. And I really appreciate the work that the working relationship that we have with the Attorney General's office. I appreciate all the work that my committee is doing on this subject as well. We know that this subject is really something that the federal government should be focusing on. And unfortunately, they have not been able to get together and figure this out. So it's been left up to the states to deal with this. Right now there's 15 states that have data privacy legislation passed, but it's not all the same. And what we've strived to do here is to work with other states to better understand what they're doing. We've had conversations with Senator Moroney in Connecticut, also with Representative Farley-Bouvier in Massachusetts, where we're trying to make sure that what we do isn't confusing to our businesses or confusing to our consumers. And so as we continue to work on this, I think that we have the ability now to look at those 15 states that have passed legislation and how can we better align together on how these laws work so that we're not confusing consumers or confusing business world. We want to make sure that they have the ability and the understanding on how to protect consumers' privacy, especially our Vermont consumers, making sure that our Vermont consumers have the ability to opt out from data collection whenever they choose to. So we're looking forward to the draft of our bill, which should be out next week, and starting that conversation with everyone that has an interest in this. And my understanding is there's a long list of people that want to chat with us about this. So again, we look forward to that. I do want to especially call out my vice chair, Representative Jerome and Representative Priestley. They have taken, I've asked them to take this on, and they have been the ones that have been collecting a lot of the information and putting this bill together. So I certainly appreciate them and I appreciate my committee for their willingness to take this up as well, because this is a really difficult subject to walk through and to come up with the right parameters around how we deal with this. But I know they can do it. I know that our colleagues in the Senate will be able to also work through this, and we look forward to finished product. Thank you. Thank you. And now we'll hear from the vice chair, Stephanie Jerome. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Marca. Thank you, Charity. I appreciate being here today. So we'll be continuing our discussions on H-121 next week. And reflecting on data privacy day, I was thinking about some of the conversations we have with people when talking about data privacy, and we say things like, well, who really owns my face and who owns my fingertips? And these sort of questions go on when we start diving into data privacy. I truly believe that data privacy cuts across all party lines. It is not a political issue. Protecting our personal information, our face, our fingerprints, our gate, our social security number, our address, our shopping habits, our travel, our biometric and our personal data. This all belongs to us. And is it right that businesses can sell information that belongs to me or how much of this data can be sold and used? What kind of permissions do I give? How can I opt out of providing information who benefits from my information, and what are the safeguards? As we stated, I think it's 15 states have already passed data privacy bills to protect consumers, to protect our information, and probably most importantly, to protect our children. I believe there are about 10 other states that are currently working on data privacy bills. It's a nationally important issue, and as Chair Marcot said, it really should be a law that has passed federally but has been left to the state's responsibilities. The House Commerce Committee is going to be building a data privacy bill that is based on work that has been done across the United States and has done, and we're looking at states such as Connecticut and California and others who have done in-depth research and have really solid bills to create a bill that works for Vermonters and works for Vermont businesses and one that works well with all the other states in our region. And I'm confident that we can get it done right. I'd like to turn it over now to Representative Monique Priestley, who I am indebted to for all the work that she has done on this topic, and is an expert in the field as we currently talk about it. And I'd like to turn it over to Monique, please. I'm thankful for all that Attorney General Clark, Chair Marcot and Vice Chair Jerome have done to protect Vermont consumers. Where federal action lags, we alongside visionary legislators across the United States are collaborating to bridge critical gaps in data privacy, crafting laws that not only pave the way for future tech policy, but also stand as beacons of safety and security in our citizens' digital lives. Thank you so much. I think all of the committee is here, almost all the committee is here. So it says a lot about the commitment that they have to this really important issue. And data privacy day is officially on Sunday, which seems like a sleepy day for a day, but there it is. So we're celebrating today. But happy to answer any questions you have. And I'm sure the committee can answer questions you have about the bill if you have questions about that. Or we can go get lunch. Alright, well, thanks so much for coming.