                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

(EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2026) DEFINITIONS (§ 59.1-575)

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:
		&#8220;Affiliate&#8221; means a legal entity that controls, is controlled by,
or is under common control with another legal entity or shares common branding
with another legal entity. For the purposes of this definition,
&#8220;control&#8221; or &#8220;controlled&#8221; means (i) ownership of, or the
power to vote, more than 50 percent of the outstanding shares of any class of
voting security of a company; (ii) control in any manner over the election of a
majority of the directors or of individuals exercising similar functions; or
(iii) the power to exercise controlling influence over the management of a
company.
		&#8220;Authenticate&#8221; means verifying through reasonable means that the
consumer, entitled to exercise his consumer rights in § 59.1-577, is the same
consumer exercising such consumer rights with respect to the personal data at
issue.
		&#8220;Biometric data&#8221; means data generated by automatic measurements of
an individual&#8217;s biological characteristics, such as a fingerprint,
voiceprint, eye retinas, irises, or other unique biological patterns or
characteristics that is used to identify a specific individual. &#8220;Biometric
data&#8221; does not include a physical or digital photograph, a video or audio
recording or data generated therefrom, or information collected, used, or stored
for health care treatment, payment, or operations under HIPAA.
		&#8220;Business associate&#8221; means the same meaning as the term
established by HIPAA.
		&#8220;Child&#8221; means any natural person younger than 13 years of age.
		&#8220;Consent&#8221; means a clear affirmative act signifying a
consumer&#8217;s freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous agreement to
process personal data relating to the consumer. Consent may include a written
statement, including a statement written by electronic means, or any other
unambiguous affirmative action.
		&#8220;Consumer&#8221; means a natural person who is a resident of the
Commonwealth acting only in an individual or household context. It does not
include a natural person acting in a commercial or employment context.
		&#8220;Controller&#8221; means the natural or legal person that, alone or
jointly with others, determines the purpose and means of processing personal
data.
		&#8220;Covered entity&#8221; means the same as the term is established by
HIPAA.
		&#8220;Decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects
concerning a consumer&#8221; means a decision made by the controller that
results in the provision or denial by the controller of financial and lending
services, housing, insurance, education enrollment, criminal justice, employment
opportunities, health care services, or access to basic necessities, such as
food and water.
		&#8220;De-identified data&#8221; means data that cannot reasonably be linked
to an identified or identifiable natural person, or a device linked to such
person. A controller that possesses &#8220;de-identified data&#8221; shall
comply with the requirements of subsection A of § 59.1-581.
		&#8220;Health record&#8221; means the same as that term is defined in §
32.1-127.1:03.
		&#8220;Health care provider&#8221; means the same as that term is defined in
§ 32.1-276.3.
		&#8220;HIPAA&#8221; means the federal Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. § 1320d et seq.).
		&#8220;Identified or identifiable natural person&#8221; means a person who can
be readily identified, directly or indirectly.
		&#8220;Institution of higher education&#8221; means a public institution and
private institution of higher education, as those terms are defined in §
23.1-100.
		&#8220;Nonprofit organization&#8221; means any corporation organized under the
Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act (§ 13.1-801 et seq.) or any organization
exempt from taxation under § 501(c)(3), 501(c)(6), or 501(c)(12) of the
Internal Revenue Code, any political organization, any organization exempt from
taxation under § 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that is identified in
§ 52-41, and any subsidiary or affiliate of entities organized pursuant to
Chapter 9.1 (§ 56-231.15 et seq.) of Title 56.
		&#8220;Online service, product, or feature&#8221; means any service, product,
or feature that is provided online. &#8220;Online service, product, or
feature&#8221; does not include telecommunications service, as defined in 47
U.S.C. § 153, broadband Internet access service, as defined in 47 C.F.R. §
54.400, or delivery or use of a physical product.
		&#8220;Parent&#8221; means a parent or legal guardian of a child or minor.
		&#8220;Personal data&#8221; means any information that is linked or reasonably
linkable to an identified or identifiable natural person. &#8220;Personal
data&#8221; does not include de-identified data or publicly available
information.
		&#8220;Political organization&#8221; means a party, committee, association,
fund, or other organization, whether or not incorporated, organized and operated
primarily for the purpose of influencing or attempting to influence the
selection, nomination, election, or appointment of any individual to any
federal, state, or local public office or office in a political organization or
the election of a presidential/vice-presidential elector, whether or not such
individual or elector is selected, nominated, elected, or appointed.
		&#8220;Precise geolocation data&#8221; means information derived from
technology, including but not limited to global positioning system level
latitude and longitude coordinates or other mechanisms, that directly identifies
the specific location of a natural person with precision and accuracy within a
radius of 1,750 feet. &#8220;Precise geolocation data&#8221; does not include
the content of communications or any data generated by or connected to advanced
utility metering infrastructure systems or equipment for use by a utility.
		&#8220;Process&#8221; or &#8220;processing&#8221; means any operation or set
of operations performed, whether by manual or automated means, on personal data
or on sets of personal data, such as the collection, use, storage, disclosure,
analysis, deletion, or modification of personal data.
		&#8220;Processor&#8221; means a natural or legal entity that processes
personal data on behalf of a controller.
		&#8220;Profiling&#8221; means any form of automated processing performed on
personal data to evaluate, analyze, or predict personal aspects related to an
identified or identifiable natural person&#8217;s economic situation, health,
personal preferences, interests, reliability, behavior, location, or movements.
		&#8220;Protected health information&#8221; means the same as the term is
established by HIPAA.
		&#8220;Pseudonymous data&#8221; means personal data that cannot be attributed
to a specific natural person without the use of additional information, provided
that such additional information is kept separately and is subject to
appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure that the personal
data is not attributed to an identified or identifiable natural person.
		&#8220;Publicly available information&#8221; means information that is
lawfully made available through federal, state, or local government records, or
information that a business has a reasonable basis to believe is lawfully made
available to the general public through widely distributed media, by the
consumer, or by a person to whom the consumer has disclosed the information,
unless the consumer has restricted the information to a specific audience.
		&#8220;Sale of personal data&#8221; means the exchange of personal data for
monetary consideration by the controller to a third party. &#8220;Sale of
personal data&#8221; does not include:

1. The disclosure of personal data to a processor that processes the personal
data on behalf of the controller;

2. The disclosure of personal data to a third party for purposes of providing a
product or service requested by the consumer;

3. The disclosure or transfer of personal data to an affiliate of the
controller;

4. The disclosure of information that the consumer (i) intentionally made
available to the general public via a channel of mass media and (ii) did not
restrict to a specific audience; or

5. The disclosure or transfer of personal data to a third party as an asset that
is part of a merger, acquisition, bankruptcy, or other transaction in which the
third party assumes control of all or part of the controller&#8217;s assets.
			&#8220;Sensitive data&#8221; means a category of personal data that includes:

1. Personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, mental or
physical health diagnosis, sexual orientation, or citizenship or immigration
status;

2. The processing of genetic or biometric data for the purpose of uniquely
identifying a natural person;

3. The personal data collected from a known child; or

4. Precise geolocation data.
			&#8220;Social media platform&#8221; means a public or semipublic
Internet-based service or application that has users in the Commonwealth and
that meets the following criteria:

1. Connects users in order to allow users to interact socially with each other
within such service or application. No service or application that exclusively
provides email or direct messaging services shall be considered to meet this
criterion on the basis of that function alone; and

2. Allows users to do all of the following:
			a. Construct a public or semipublic profile for purposes of signing into and
using such service or application;
			b. Populate a public list of other users with whom such user shares a social
connection within such service or application; and
			c. Create or post content viewable by other users, including content on
message boards, in chat rooms, or through a landing page or main feed that
presents the user with content generated by other users. No service or
application that consists primarily of news, sports, entertainment, ecommerce,
or content preselected by the provider and not generated by users, and for which
any chat, comments, or interactive functionality is incidental to, directly
related to, or dependent on the provision of such content, or that is for
interactive gaming, shall be considered to meet this criterion on the basis of
that function alone.
			&#8220;State agency&#8221; means the same as that term is defined in &#xA7;
2.2-307.
			&#8220;Targeted advertising&#8221; means displaying advertisements to a
consumer where the advertisement is selected based on personal data obtained
from that consumer&#8217;s activities over time and across nonaffiliated
websites or online applications to predict such consumer&#8217;s preferences or
interests. &#8220;Targeted advertising&#8221; does not include:

1. Advertisements based on activities within a controller&#8217;s own websites
or online applications;

2. Advertisements based on the context of a consumer&#8217;s current search
query, visit to a website, or online application;

3. Advertisements directed to a consumer in response to the consumer&#8217;s
request for information or feedback; or

4. Processing personal data processed solely for measuring or reporting
advertising performance, reach, or frequency.
			&#8220;Third party&#8221; means a natural or legal person, public authority,
agency, or body other than the consumer, controller, processor, or an affiliate
of the processor or the controller.
			&#8220;User&#8221; means a person not acting as an agent of a controller or
processor.

HISTORY: 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 35, 36; 2022, cc. 451, 452; 2024, cc. 840, 844;
2025, c. 703.