Legislative Session
The Legislature wrapped up a whirlwind 60-day session on March 12. The Office of Privacy and Data Protection (OPDP) tracked a whopping 86 bills that touched on privacy and artificial intelligence (AI) issues, compared to 55 bills last year.
That is a remarkable increase, especially for a short session. Bills of particular importance to OPDP include House Bill 2606 and the governor request AI Companion Chatbot bill (HB 2225). In addition, a surprise addition to HB 1170 includes responsibilities for AI transparency for government agencies.
HB 2606 highlighted impacts:
- Adds review of agency projects using artificial intelligence to OPDP primary duties.
- Modifies performance measures reporting requirements.
- Removes broadband reporting requirements.
HB 2225 highlighted impacts:
- Requires operators of artificial intelligence (AI) companion chatbots to issue certain notifications and implement precautions for minors.
- Requires operators of AI companion chatbots to implement protocols for detecting and addressing expressions of self-harm.
HB 1170 impacts:
- Requires providers of certain generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems to include provenance data in content created by their systems.
- Requires government agencies to notify consumers when they are interacting with certain AI systems.
Upcoming webinar:
We invite public employees to join us for our April webinar where OPDP will be training on the impacts of HB 1170 and ways government agencies can implement the new requirements. If you have questions that you want answered please send to us in advance at privacy@watech.wa.gov.
- Date: Thursday, April 30, 2026
- Time: 10am – 11am
- Location: Zoom (invite forthcoming)
See you next month with more updates!
Katy Ruckle
State Chief Privacy Officer