Rhode Island legislation · 2026 Regular Session
Rhode Island H7639: AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW--GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- GENETIC INFORMATION PRIVACY ACT (Requires a direct-to-consumer genetic testing company, as defined, to provide a consumer with certain information regarding the company’s policies and procedures regarding use of genetic data.)
Status: Signed into law, June 19, 2026
What the bill says
From the introduced text, February 11, 2026:
2026 -- H 7639 ======== LC005027 ======== STATEOFRHODEISLAND IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026 ____________ ANACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW--GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- GENETIC INFORMATION PRIVACY ACT Introduced By: Representatives Ajello, Cortvriend, Corvese, Place, Cruz, Kislak, Handy, Boylan, Donovan, and Cotter Date Introduced: February 11, 2026 Referred To: House Judiciary It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: SECTION 1. Legislative findings and short title. The general assembly finds and declares the following: (1) Direct-to-consumer genetic testing services are largely unregulated and could expose personal and genetic information, and potentially create unintended security consequences and increased risk. (2) There is growing concern in the scientific community that outside parties are exploiting the use of genetic data for questionable purposes, including mass surveillance and the ability to track individuals without their authorization. (3) Genomic data is highly distinguishable. There is a confirmation that a sequence of to 80 single nucleotide polymorphisms could uniquely identify an individual. Genomic data is also very stable. It undergoes little change over the lifetime of an individual and thus has a long-lived value, as opposed to other biometric data such as blood tests, which have expiration dates. (4) The potential information hidden within genomic data is cause for significant concern. As our knowledge in genomics evolves, so will our view on the sensitivity of …
Sponsors
- Edith Ajello (D, HD-001) · primary sponsor
- Terri-Denise Cortvriend (D, HD-072)
- Arthur Corvese (D, HD-055)
- David Place (R, HD-047)
- Cherie Cruz (D, HD-058)
- Rebecca Kislak (D, HD-004)
- Arthur Handy (D, HD-018)
- Jennifer Boylan (D, HD-066)
- Susan Donovan (D, HD-069)
- Megan Cotter (D, HD-039)
Latest actions
- : Signed by Governor
- : Transmitted to Governor
- : Senate passed in concurrence
- : Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar
- : Committee recommends passage in concurrence
- : Scheduled for consideration
- : Referred to Senate Commerce
- : House read and passed
- : Placed on House Calendar
- : Committee recommends passage
Votes
- Senate Committee on Commerce: Passage in concurrence (May 19, 2026): 11 yea, 0 nay, passed
- House Seq #121: PASSAGE (April 28, 2026): 68 yea, 0 nay, passed
- House Committee on Judiciary: Passage (April 9, 2026): 12 yea, 0 nay, passed
Subjects: COMMERCIAL LAW--GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS
Common questions
- What is H7639?
- H7639 is a bill in the Rhode Island Legislature (2026 Regular Session): AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW--GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- GENETIC INFORMATION PRIVACY ACT (Requires a direct-to-consumer genetic testing company, as defined, to provide a consumer with certain information regarding the company’s policies and procedures regarding use of genetic data.).
- What is the status of H7639?
- Signed into law as of June 19, 2026. Latest action: Signed by Governor (June 19, 2026).
- Who sponsored H7639?
- Edith Ajello (D, HD-001), with 9 co-sponsors.
- Where is the official record for H7639?
- On the Rhode Island Legislature website: http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText26/HouseText26/H7639.pdf
Source: official Rhode Island record. Tracked by Delilah, AI for legislation across all 50 states and Congress.