Creates a new state regulatory regime that requires many businesses that collect and sell or license certain personal data about Washington residents to register with the Department of Licensing. Sections 2–7 of the act form a new chapter in Title 19 RCW establishing definitions (including “data broker,” “brokered personal data,” “biometric information,” “business entity,” and “resident individual”), exemptions (for entities covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, certain financial privacy rules, customer/employee relationships, and agents performing services), and detailed annual registration and declaration requirements. Data brokers must register before collecting and selling or licensing brokered personal data in Washington beginning May 1, 2028, pay a fee set by rule to cover program costs, and the department must publish registrant information on its website. This is a procedural regulatory change, not a new criminal statute. It creates a new licensing/registration requirement, prescribes the content of annual filings (types of data collected, processing methods, purchasers and purposes, monthly resident counts, security measures, opt-out practices, and related items), authorizes rulemaking to implement the chapter, and ties registration administration, approval, denial, discipline, and unregistered practice enforcement to the uniform regulation of business and professions act (chapter 18.235 RCW). It establishes a civil penalty of $1,000 per day after notice for required data brokers that operate without registration and requires the department to suspend a registrant if DSHS certifies noncompliance with a support order, with reinstatement procedures to follow (text is incomplete). The bill also amends RCW 18.235.020 to make the chapter applicable only to the director and the listed professional boards and commissions and expressly includes data brokers under the new Title 19 chapter among the listed businesses subject to the director’s authority. Important details are missing or incomplete in the provided text: the new Title 19 chapter number is not shown, some sections end mid-sentence, the full amendment text for RCW 18.235.020 from the bill header is not included, and additional rules, enforcement procedures, or penalties that may appear elsewhere in the bill are not available in these extracts.

If enacted, companies that collect and package personal data about Washington residents for sale or licensing will have to register with the Department of Licensing by May 1, 2028, pay a fee, submit an annual declaration about the kinds of data they collect and who they sell to, and have that information published publicly. That will increase their administrative and compliance costs, create ongoing disclosure and reputational risk from a public record of their practices, and expose noncompliant firms to fines of $1,000 per day after notice and to licensing discipline or suspension (including suspension tied to DSHS certification of support-order noncompliance). The Department of Licensing will need to adopt rules and run the program, funded by the fees the department sets to cover costs, while some entities (consumer reporting agencies, certain financial firms, and businesses dealing directly with their customers or employees) are excluded. Important implementation details are missing from the excerpt—such as the full new chapter numbering, any additional enforcement or appeal processes, and any other sections of the act—so the exact scope of obligations and how the department will apply them is unclear.