The Indiana Legislature is poised to pass Senate Bill 5, a comprehensive privacy statute (the “Act”), and send it on to the Governor. Once signed, the Act will become operative on January 1, 2026, and make Indiana the seventh state, after California, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Utah, and Virginia to enact a comprehensive consumer privacy statute.

Key Elements

Similar to the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) and the Virginia Consumer Data Privacy Act (VCDPA), the Act was modeled in part on the CCPA, CPRA, and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). But there are some variations. Key elements of the UCPA include:

When does the Act apply? The Act applies to persons that conduct business in Indiana or produce products or services that are targeted to residents of the state and that, during a calendar year:

  • Control or process personal data of at least 100,000 consumers who are residents of the state, or
  • Control or process personal data of at least 25,000 consumers who are residents of the state and derive more than 50% of gross revenue from the sale of personal data.

Are there exemptions? Among the persons not subject to the Act include Indiana and state agencies, third-party contractors of the state and such agencies acting on their behalf (but only with respect to such contracts), financial institutions, HIPAA-covered entities and business associates, not-for-profit organizations, institutions of higher education, and public utilities.

Who is protected under the Act? The Act protects the personal information of a “consumer,” defined as an individual who:

  • Is a resident of the state, and
  • Is acting only for personal, family, or household purposes.

Like the recently passed Iowa statute, Indiana excludes individuals acting in a commercial or employment context from its definition of consumer.

What “personal data” is protected under the Act? Under the Act, personal data is defined broadly as information that is linked or reasonably linkable to an individual. The definition excludes de-identified data, aggregate data, or publicly available information.

What rights do consumers have under the Act? The Act provides consumers with the following rights:

  • The right to request confirmation of whether a business is processing their personal data and related information.
  • The right to access their personal data upon request.
  • The right to correct information a company possesses
  • The right to delete personal information obtained by businesses
  • The right to opt out of the processing of personal data for purposes of targeted advertising, sale of personal data, or certain profiling activities.

The rules surrounding the administration of these rights pull from similar language in the other state privacy laws – a 45-day period to respond, a verification requirement, and a right to appeal a controller’s adverse decision concerning a consumer right request.

What obligations do covered persons have?

The Act lays out a list of obligations for controllers which generally track the laws in the other states. Without limitation, controllers must:

  • limit the collection of personal data to what is adequate, relevant, and reasonably necessary in relation to the purposes for which such data is processed,
  • establish, implement, and maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical security practices to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and accessibility of personal data,
  • not discriminate against a consumer for exercising rights under the Act,
  • not process sensitive data without the consumer’s consent,
  • provide consumer with a privacy notice that explained among other things the categories of personal data the controller processes and shares with third parties, and
  • provide consumers the opportunity to opt out of the sale of personal data and explain the means to exercise these and other rights under the Act.

For processing activities created or generated after December 31, 2025, controllers need to conduct and document impact assessments for certain processing activities, such as the sale of personal data and the processing of sensitive data. In short, these assessments must weigh the benefits of the processing and the risks to the consumer, considering risk mitigation efforts by the controller.

With respect to processors, the Act requires they adhere to the instructions of controllers, such as assisting the controller with responding to consumer requests. Contracts between controllers and processors must include certain provisions, such as instructions for processing personal data, the nature and duration of the processing. Other required provisions include (i) a requirement for processors to make available all information in the processor’s possession to demonstrate the processor’s compliance with the Act, (ii) cooperating with reasonable assessments of compliance by the controller (or arrange for a qualified and independent assessor), and (iii) obligating the processor to push the Act’s required provisions down to the processor’s subcontractors 

How is the law enforced, any private right of action? Unlike the CCPA, Indiana’s statute does not include a private right of action for consumers. In fact, the Act states that “[n]othing in [the Act] shall be construed as providing the basis for a private right of action for violations of this article or any other law.” Instead, the state attorney general will have exclusive enforcement authority. Businesses that are found to have violated the law may face fines of up to $7,500 per violation.

For additional information on Indiana’s new privacy statute and other data privacy laws and regulations, please reach out to a member of our Privacy, Data, and Cybersecurity practice group.

Tags: Indiana, right to correct, Right to delete, right to opt-out, right to request
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Photo of Joseph J. Lazzarotti Joseph J. Lazzarotti

Joseph J. Lazzarotti is a principal in the Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He founded and currently co-leads the firm’s Privacy, Data and Cybersecurity practice group, edits the firm’s Privacy Blog, and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP)…

Joseph J. Lazzarotti is a principal in the Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He founded and currently co-leads the firm’s Privacy, Data and Cybersecurity practice group, edits the firm’s Privacy Blog, and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) with the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Trained as an employee benefits lawyer, focused on compliance, Joe also is a member of the firm’s Employee Benefits practice group.

In short, his practice focuses on the matrix of laws governing the privacy, security, and management of data, as well as the impact and regulation of social media. He also counsels companies on compliance, fiduciary, taxation, and administrative matters with respect to employee benefit plans.

Privacy and cybersecurity experience – Joe counsels multinational, national and regional companies in all industries on the broad array of laws, regulations, best practices, and preventive safeguards. The following are examples of areas of focus in his practice:

  • Advising health care providers, business associates, and group health plan sponsors concerning HIPAA/HITECH compliance, including risk assessments, policies and procedures, incident response plan development, vendor assessment and management programs, and training.
  • Coached hundreds of companies through the investigation, remediation, notification, and overall response to data breaches of all kinds – PHI, PII, payment card, etc.
  • Helping organizations address questions about the application, implementation, and overall compliance with European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and, in particular, its implications in the U.S., together with preparing for the California Consumer Privacy Act.
  • Working with organizations to develop and implement video, audio, and data-driven monitoring and surveillance programs. For instance, in the transportation and related industries, Joe has worked with numerous clients on fleet management programs involving the use of telematics, dash-cams, event data recorders (EDR), and related technologies. He also has advised many clients in the use of biometrics including with regard to consent, data security, and retention issues under BIPA and other laws.
  • Assisting clients with growing state data security mandates to safeguard personal information, including steering clients through detailed risk assessments and converting those assessments into practical “best practice” risk management solutions, including written information security programs (WISPs). Related work includes compliance advice concerning FTC Act, Regulation S-P, GLBA, and New York Reg. 500.
  • Advising clients about best practices for electronic communications, including in social media, as well as when communicating under a “bring your own device” (BYOD) or “company owned personally enabled device” (COPE) environment.
  • Conducting various levels of privacy and data security training for executives and employees
  • Supports organizations through mergers, acquisitions, and reorganizations with regard to the handling of employee and customer data, and the safeguarding of that data during the transaction.
  • Representing organizations in matters involving inquiries into privacy and data security compliance before federal and state agencies including the HHS Office of Civil Rights, Federal Trade Commission, and various state Attorneys General.

Benefits counseling experience – Joe’s work in the benefits counseling area covers many areas of employee benefits law. Below are some examples of that work:

  • As part of the Firm’s Health Care Reform Team, he advises employers and plan sponsors regarding the establishment, administration and operation of fully insured and self-funded health and welfare plans to comply with ERISA, IRC, ACA/PPACA, HIPAA, COBRA, ADA, GINA, and other related laws.
  • Guiding clients through the selection of plan service providers, along with negotiating service agreements with vendors to address plan compliance and operations, while leveraging data security experience to ensure plan data is safeguarded.
  • Counsels plan sponsors on day-to-day compliance and administrative issues affecting plans.
  • Assists in the design and drafting of benefit plan documents, including severance and fringe benefit plans.
  • Advises plan sponsors concerning employee benefit plan operation, administration and correcting errors in operation.

Joe speaks and writes regularly on current employee benefits and data privacy and cybersecurity topics and his work has been published in leading business and legal journals and media outlets, such as The Washington Post, Inside Counsel, Bloomberg, The National Law Journal, Financial Times, Business Insurance, HR Magazine and NPR, as well as the ABA Journal, The American Lawyer, Law360, Bender’s Labor and Employment Bulletin, the Australian Privacy Law Bulletin and the Privacy, and Data Security Law Journal.

Joe served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Laura Denvir Stith on the Missouri Court of Appeals.

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Photo of Dorothy Parson McDermott Dorothy Parson McDermott

Dorothy “Dottie” Parson McDermott is a principal in the Indianapolis, Indiana, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She concentrates her practice in the defense of complex ERISA litigation, single plaintiff ERISA cases, civil rights and employment-related claims.

Dottie defends ERISA 401(k) Plan class actions.

Dorothy “Dottie” Parson McDermott is a principal in the Indianapolis, Indiana, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She concentrates her practice in the defense of complex ERISA litigation, single plaintiff ERISA cases, civil rights and employment-related claims.

Dottie defends ERISA 401(k) Plan class actions. She also has experience defending and dealing with defined benefit plan administration and complex Taft-Hartley-multi-employer plan issues. She has litigated sophisticated ERISA preemption issues and defended benefit claims in the LTD Plan, welfare plan, and pension plan areas. Her ERISA clients include fiduciaries, trustees, service providers, ERISA plans, plan administrators, claim administrators, third-party service providers, managed care entities, Taft-Hartley-multiemployer funds, and employers in a wide variety of employee benefits litigation issues nationwide. She additionally advises employers and plan administrators regarding administration of qualified retirement and welfare benefit plans, particularly processing internal claims and appeals. She is a member of the Employee Benefits Committee, Section of Labor & Employment Law, ABA. She is also a member of the ERISA focused DRI Life, Health and Disability Committee. Finally, she is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association.

Dottie also defends employers and management in federal and state courts and before administrative entities (EEOC, Indiana and U.S. Department of Labor, and similar state agencies) in matters ranging from ADA, ADEA, COBRA, FMLA, Title VII, Section 1981, the Indiana Wage Payment and Claims statutes, covenant not to compete/trade secret, and wrongful termination claims. Additionally, she participates in internal FLSA audits on behalf of employers, and the defense of FLSA class action litigation. Dottie further advises employers and management on human resource issues, reductions in force, employee handbooks, policies, severance agreements, EEO training, and workplace violence prevention restraining orders. She also leads internal corporate investigations regarding claims of sexual harassment and discrimination. Moreover, she provides analysis and guidance regarding drug testing laws and medical marijuana/marijuana-related legislation impacting employers in numerous states across the United States.

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