                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

LIMITATIONS (§ 59.1-582)

A. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to restrict a controller&#8217;s
or processor&#8217;s ability to:

   1. Comply with federal, state, or local laws, rules, or regulations;

   2. Comply with a civil, criminal, or regulatory inquiry, investigation,
   subpoena, or summons by federal, state, local, or other governmental
   authorities;

   3. Cooperate with law-enforcement agencies concerning conduct or activity that
   the controller or processor reasonably and in good faith believes may violate
   federal, state, or local laws, rules, or regulations;

   4. Investigate, establish, exercise, prepare for, or defend legal claims;

   5. Provide a product or service specifically requested by a consumer, perform
   a contract to which the consumer is a party, including fulfilling the terms of
   a written warranty, or take steps at the request of the consumer prior to
   entering into a contract;

   6. Take immediate steps to protect an interest that is essential for the life
   or physical safety of the consumer or of another natural person, and where the
   processing cannot be manifestly based on another legal basis;

   7. Prevent, detect, protect against, or respond to security incidents,
   identity theft, fraud, harassment, malicious or deceptive activities, or any
   illegal activity; preserve the integrity or security of systems; or
   investigate, report, or prosecute those responsible for any such action;

   8. Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific or statistical research in the
   public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws
   and is approved, monitored, and governed by an institutional review board, or
   similar independent oversight entities that determine: (i) if the deletion of
   the information is likely to provide substantial benefits that do not
   exclusively accrue to the controller; (ii) the expected benefits of the
   research outweigh the privacy risks; and (iii) if the controller has
   implemented reasonable safeguards to mitigate privacy risks associated with
   research, including any risks associated with reidentification; or

   9. Assist another controller, processor, or third party with any of the
   obligations under this subsection.

B. The obligations imposed on controllers or processors under this chapter shall
not restrict a controller&#8217;s or processor&#8217;s ability to collect, use,
or retain data to:

   1. Conduct internal research to develop, improve, or repair products,
   services, or technology;

   2. Effectuate a product recall;

   3. Identify and repair technical errors that impair existing or intended
   functionality; or

   4. Perform internal operations that are reasonably aligned with the
   expectations of the consumer or reasonably anticipated based on the
   consumer&#8217;s existing relationship with the controller or are otherwise
   compatible with processing data in furtherance of the provision of a product
   or service specifically requested by a consumer or the performance of a
   contract to which the consumer is a party.

C. The obligations imposed on controllers or processors under this chapter shall
not apply where compliance by the controller or processor with this chapter
would violate an evidentiary privilege under the laws of the Commonwealth.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent a controller or processor
from providing personal data concerning a consumer to a person covered by an
evidentiary privilege under the laws of the Commonwealth as part of a privileged
communication.

D. A controller or processor that discloses personal data to a third-party
controller or processor, in compliance with the requirements of this chapter, is
not in violation of this chapter if the third-party controller or processor that
receives and processes such personal data is in violation of this chapter,
provided that, at the time of disclosing the personal data, the disclosing
controller or processor did not have actual knowledge that the recipient
intended to commit a violation. A third-party controller or processor receiving
personal data from a controller or processor in compliance with the requirements
of this chapter is likewise not in violation of this chapter for the
transgressions of the controller or processor from which it receives such
personal data.

E. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as an obligation imposed on
controllers and processors that adversely affects the rights or freedoms of any
persons, such as exercising the right of free speech pursuant to the First
Amendment to the United States Constitution, or applies to the processing of
personal data by a person in the course of a purely personal or household
activity.

F. Personal data processed by a controller pursuant to this section shall not be
processed for any purpose other than those expressly listed in this section
unless otherwise allowed by this chapter. Personal data processed by a
controller pursuant to this section may be processed to the extent that such
processing is:

   1. Reasonably necessary and proportionate to the purposes listed in this
   section; and

   2. Adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary in relation to the
   specific purposes listed in this section. Personal data collected, used, or
   retained pursuant to subsection B shall, where applicable, take into account
   the nature and purpose or purposes of such collection, use, or retention. Such
   data shall be subject to reasonable administrative, technical, and physical
   measures to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and accessibility of the
   personal data and to reduce reasonably foreseeable risks of harm to consumers
   relating to such collection, use, or retention of personal data.

G. If a controller processes personal data pursuant to an exemption in this
section, the controller bears the burden of demonstrating that such processing
qualifies for the exemption and complies with the requirements in subsection F.

H. Processing personal data for the purposes expressly identified in
subdivisions A 1 through 9 shall not solely make an entity a controller with
respect to such processing.

HISTORY: 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 35, 36.