Virginia Signs S.B. 388 Banning Geolocation Data Sales - Effective July 2026

On April 13, 2026, Governor Abigail Spanberger signed S.B. 388, making Virginia the third U.S. state to ban the sale of geolocation data. The ban amends the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA) and takes effect July 1, 2026.

Why the 'Sale' Definition Matters

Virginia’s VCDPA defines 'sale' as 'the exchange of personal data for monetary consideration by the controller to a third party.' That is narrower than Maryland and Oregon, both of which define sale as exchange 'for monetary or other valuable consideration.' The distinction matters: data brokers selling location feeds for non-cash compensation—like ad credits or barter arrangements—could slip through Virginia’s ban but would be caught in Maryland or Oregon.

Virginia’s law targets direct monetization of geolocation data, but leaves room for data sharing tied to services. That nuance will keep compliance teams busy parsing contracts for anything that looks like a cash transaction for location data.

Regulatory Momentum Behind the Ban

Virginia doesn’t stand alone. California, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Washington State have all proposed similar bans. The legislative push follows real enforcement: the California Attorney General opened an investigation into the location data industry in March 2025, and a 2024 FTC settlement permanently banned a data broker from selling geolocation data.

For engineers building location-based products or relying on third-party geolocation feeds, the patchwork is accelerating. A sale that’s legal in Richmond could be illegal in Portland or Annapolis. The core question: can you justify holding precise lat/lon data when the regulatory trend is toward outright sale prohibitions?

With five more states proposing language and the FTC signaling zero tolerance for the old brokerage model, the safe bet is to treat geolocation data like PII with a high-explosive rating. Virginia’s S.B. 388 is another brick in that wall.

Source: US State of Virginia Bans Sale of Geolocation Data
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