The Art of Passing a Data Protection Bill
A conversation with Monique Priestley
The corporations lobbying against state privacy laws in the US are the same lobbying in Brussels. Priestley has documented how they operate, from the inside, across hundreds of meetings. Whether you're a DPO, an enforcer, or a lawmaker, understanding this playbook changes how you read every "simplification" proposal that lands on your desk.
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Agenda
In 2024, Vermont's comprehensive data privacy bill passed the House 139–0. The governor vetoed it. The House overrode the veto. Then lobbyists flipped enough senators to kill it. In 2025, the fight started over, with two competing bills: one strong, one backed by industry.
Meanwhile in Brussels, the EU Commission is proposing to "simplify" the GDPR through its Digital Omnibus package, the ePrivacy Regulation was shelved after seven years of lobbying, and there are now more tech lobbyists in Brussels than there are Members of European Parliament.
Same companies. Same arguments. Different continent. Or are they?
In this conversation we will explore:
- What happens when a privacy bill moves through a legislature, and where it gets derailed.
- The recurring lobbying tactics Priestley has documented across hundreds of meetings with industry representatives.
- How the arguments used against US state privacy bills compare to what's playing out in the EU right now
- Why small businesses may have more to lose without privacy laws than with them, and what the industry lobby is actually trying to protect.
Guest
Monique Priestley
State Representative, Vermont House of Representatives, House Commerce & Economic Development Committee
Priestley sits on the committee that handles data privacy legislation in Vermont. Before entering politics, she spent 14 years in the tech industry in Seattle. She is currently coordinating with legislators in 20+ states to share strategies for passing strong privacy bills, running a statewide town hall series called "The People vs Big Tech," and championing over 25 bills on data privacy, AI, right to repair, and digital rights. She is running for Vermont State Senate in 2026.
Host
Vibeke Specht
Co-Founder of Peak Privacy
CIPP/E certified privacy professional and author of "From GDPR Confusion to Privacy First Marketing".