---
jurisdiction: "South Carolina"
slug: south-carolina
countryCode: US
snapshotAsOf: "2026-06-12"
lastReviewed: "2026-06-11"
canonicalUrl: https://openagreements.org/legal/privacy/south-carolina
license: CC BY 4.0
stale: false
---

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> **Canonical:** https://openagreements.org/legal/privacy/south-carolina · **Snapshot as of:** 2026-06-12 · License: CC BY 4.0 · © UseJunior

# South Carolina Consumer Privacy Law[^about]

South Carolina has no comprehensive consumer-privacy statute. The operative state laws are Act No. 96 of 2026 — an age-appropriate design code for minors, effective at signing on February 5, 2026 — the breach-notification statute (S.C. Code § 39-1-90) with its embedded private right of action, and the Unfair Trade Practices Act; the privacy-policy load rides the federal overlay.


## At a glance

| Question | South Carolina |
| --- | --- |
| **Summary** | South Carolina has not enacted a comprehensive consumer-privacy law, but it is not toothless. Act No. 96 of 2026 — an age-appropriate design code that took effect at signing on February 5, 2026 — imposes reasonable-care, data-minimization, no-targeted-advertising, highest-default-protection, and annual-audit duties on online services likely to be accessed by minors that meet a size threshold, enforced by the Attorney General with treble the financial damages incurred and personal officer liability; July 1 is only the recurring audit-report deadline, and a NetChoice First Amendment challenge to the act is pending. For everyone else, the operative state laws are the breach-notification statute — which, unusually, lets an injured resident sue — and the Unfair Trade Practices Act, which supplies the deception hook for privacy-policy misstatements if the plaintiff satisfies SCUTPA's loss and action requirements. The rest of a South Carolina privacy program rides the federal overlay. |
| **Main law** | S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90 (breach notification, with a private right of action) plus Act No. 96 of 2026 (H. 3431), the age-appropriate design code for minors codified at S.C. Code Ann. ch. 80, tit. 39 — South Carolina has no comprehensive consumer-privacy statute |
| **Privacy policy required?** | No general South Carolina mandate — contents are driven by FTC Act § 5 and the sectoral overlay (GLBA, HIPAA, COPPA); SCUTPA supplies the deception hook if a misstatement causes an ascertainable loss, and Act 96 separately requires covered online services to post prominent minors' design-safety, privacy-protection, and parental-tool disclosures |
| **Who does it cover?** | Breach statute: any person conducting business in South Carolina that owns or licenses residents' computerized personal identifying information, with no size threshold. Act 96: online services reasonably likely to be accessed by minors that meet one of three thresholds — over $25 million in annual revenue, personal data of 50,000+ consumers, households, or devices per year, or 50%+ of revenue from selling or sharing personal data |
| **Can consumers sue?** | Yes, unusually — § 39-1-90(G) lets a resident injured by a breach-notification violation sue (damages for a wilful and knowing violation, actual damages for a negligent one, plus injunction and fees), and SCUTPA § 39-5-140 gives an individual-only action with treble damages for willful violations; Act 96 is enforced by the Attorney General |
| **Who enforces it?** | South Carolina Attorney General (Act 96 and SCUTPA); Department of Consumer Affairs (breach-statute administrative fines); Department of Insurance (insurance licensees) |

## Which privacy laws apply to your business in South Carolina? {#which-privacy-laws-apply}

**Short answer.** South Carolina has no comprehensive consumer-privacy law — no state statute gives residents general rights to access, delete, or correct their personal data or to opt out of its sale. Three state laws carry the load instead. The breach-notification statute requires any person conducting business in the State that owns or licenses computerized personal identifying information to notify affected residents of a qualifying breach [^q1-breach-scope]. The South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act (SCUTPA) declares unfair or deceptive acts or practices in trade or commerce unlawful, which supplies the general deception hook for privacy-policy misstatements [^q1-scutpa-udap]; private SCUTPA recovery still requires an ascertainable loss and an individual action [^q1-scutpa-pra]. And Act No. 96 of 2026 — the State's new design code for minors — requires covered online services to exercise reasonable care in the use of minors' personal data and layers on data-collection limits, parental controls, an annual report, and enforcement provisions [^q1-act96-preamble].

Because there is no omnibus statute, South Carolina residents have no general state-law rights to access, delete, correct, or port their personal data; businesses face no state notice-at-collection, consent, or data-protection-assessment duties; and the State recognizes no universal opt-out signal. The rest of a South Carolina-facing privacy program rides the federal and sectoral overlay: Section 5 of the FTC Act reaches deceptive or unfair data practices nationwide, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act governs financial institutions, HIPAA governs covered health entities and their business associates, and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act governs services directed to children under 13. One state sectoral regime deserves its own line: insurance licensees must build and maintain a comprehensive written information security program under the South Carolina Insurance Data Security Act [^q1-insurance-program], a regime with its own 72-hour regulator-notice clock covered in the breach section below. This note stays focused on privacy notice, minors' design duties, vendor contracts, breach notification, and enforcement; adjacent identity-theft controls are not cataloged unless they affect those duties.

## Does South Carolina's new minors' online-safety law apply to your service? {#minors-law-coverage}

**Short answer.** It does if your online service is reasonably likely to be accessed by minors and you are big enough. Act No. 96 of 2026 (H. 3431) — the ratified act captions the new Chapter 80 of Title 39 *Age-Appropriate Code Design*, and the Statehouse bill page titles it the *South Carolina Social Media Regulation Act* — applies to a *covered online service*: an entity that conducts business in South Carolina, provides an online service reasonably likely to be accessed by minors, determines the purposes and means of processing consumers' personal data, and meets one of three thresholds — annual gross revenues over $25 million, the personal data of 50,000 or more consumers, households, or devices bought, received, sold, or shared each year, or at least 50 percent of annual revenue derived from selling or sharing personal data [^q2-act96-covered-service]. The definition also includes commonly branded controlled entities and certain joint ventures or partnerships where each business has at least a 40 percent interest [^q2-act96-affiliates]. A minor is any consumer under eighteen — not just children under 13 [^q2-act96-minor-def]. The act took effect immediately upon the Governor's approval on February 5, 2026 [^q2-act96-effective].

Two coverage features deserve attention. First, the *reasonably likely to be accessed by a minor* test works individual-by-individual for most services but converts wholesale for child-directed ones: where a particular user is known to be a minor the service must treat that individual as a minor, but a service directed to children under COPPA must treat every user as a minor unless it actually knows otherwise [^q2-act96-treat-as-minors]. *Known to be a minor* itself sweeps in any age the service has attributed to a user for marketing, advertising, or product-development purposes, so advertising-segment age inferences can create knowledge. Second, the chapter carries exemptions: it does not apply to government entities in the ordinary course of operations, to personal data controlled in compliance with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, HITECH, or the HIPAA privacy regulations, or to clinical-trial data [^q2-act96-exemptions]. The act is also under constitutional attack in *NetChoice v. Wilson*. If the court were to enjoin Chapter 80, enforcement would be suspended while the case proceeds; unless and until that happens, the act remains in force, and covered services should treat its duties as live obligations.

## What does South Carolina's minors' design code require your service to do? {#minors-law-duties}

**Short answer.** The core obligation is a duty of reasonable care: a covered online service must exercise reasonable care in its use of a minor's personal data and in the design and operation of the service to prevent enumerated harms to minors, from compulsive usage and severe psychological harm to identity theft and financial or physical injury [^q3-act96-reasonable-care]. That design duty reaches *covered design features* such as infinite scroll, autoplay, gamification, engagement counts, push alerts, in-game purchases, and appearance-altering filters [^q3-act96-design-features]. Around that duty the act layers hard data rules: a service may collect, use, or share only the minimum amount of a minor's personal data necessary for the parts of the service the minor knowingly engages with, and age-verification data must be deleted after use [^q3-act96-minimization]; targeted advertising to minors is flatly banned, with no consent path [^q3-act96-targeted-ads]; and the protections in that section must be set at the highest level by default [^q3-act96-defaults].

The act is as much a product-design mandate as a data statute. Every user — not just known minors — must get easily accessible tools to disable covered design features that are not necessary to the service and to limit time spent on it [^q3-act96-user-tools]. Users must be offered an opt-out from personalized recommendation systems, and that opt-out must be the default setting for any individual the service knows to be a minor [^q3-act96-recsys-default]. Parents must get accessible tools — on by default for known minors — to manage the minor's settings, restrict purchases, view time spent, and set time-of-day limits, with notice to the minor when those tools are active [^q3-act96-parental-tools]. Precise-geolocation collection defaults off, notification-curfew tools must cover overnight and school hours, and parental monitoring requires obvious notice to the minor [^q3-act96-data-controls]. The same staged duties also include retention minimization for minors' personal data, limits on profiling known minors, harm-reporting mechanisms for parents, minors, and schools, and a ban on ads for products prohibited for minors [^q3-act96-data-controls] [^q3-act96-harm-ads].

Two dates matter here, and they are commonly confused. The act has no phased compliance schedule — every substantive duty above went live at signing on February 5, 2026 [^q3-act96-effective]. July 1 is a separate, recurring deadline: each year, on or before July 1, a covered online service must issue a public report prepared by an independent third-party auditor describing its design features, its use of personal data, and its minor-facing business practices, and submit it to the Attorney General for posting [^q3-act96-audit]. So July 1, 2026 is only the first audit-report deadline, not the act's compliance date — a covered service that waited for July to begin complying would already be months late. The pending *NetChoice v. Wilson* challenge, discussed in the coverage section above, is the one development that could pause these duties; absent an injunction they remain enforceable now.

## What must your South Carolina privacy policy contain? {#privacy-policy-contents}

**Short answer.** For a general-audience business, no South Carolina statute requires a consumer privacy policy or fixes its contents. The governing rule is that whatever you publish must be true: Section 5 of the FTC Act makes deceptive acts or practices in commerce unlawful [^q4-ftc-deceptive], and SCUTPA imports that body of law directly — South Carolina courts construing the state act are to be guided by FTC and federal-court interpretations of FTC Act § 5 [^q4-scutpa-ftc-guided]. Together, those provisions supply the deception hook for a privacy-policy misstatement, while private SCUTPA recovery still requires an ascertainable loss and an individual action [^q4-scutpa-pra]. Covered online services under Act No. 96 do have affirmative disclosure duties: they must post comprehensive, easy-to-understand information in a prominent location describing their design safety for minors, privacy protections for minors, and parental tools [^q4-act96-disclosures], and a service using personalized recommendation systems must explain in its terms and conditions how those systems serve content to minors and how minors and parents can opt out [^q4-act96-recsys-terms].

In practice the drafting question in South Carolina is less what must be included and more whether the policy matches actual practice. Build the contents from the overlay that applies to you: the GLBA privacy-notice rules if you are a financial institution, the HIPAA notice of privacy practices — which entitles individuals to adequate notice of the uses and disclosures of their protected health information and of their rights and the entity's duties [^q4-hipaa-notice] — and a COPPA notice if your service is directed to children under 13. For everyone else, best practice remains the practical baseline: describe the categories of data collected, the purposes, the third parties you share with, and how users exercise any choices you offer, and then honor every word. The SCUTPA angle gives that discipline real stakes in South Carolina, but it is not a freestanding privacy statute; a private plaintiff still must show the statutory loss and bring the claim individually [^q4-scutpa-pra]. Act 96's minor-facing disclosures should be drafted as standing public pages — the statute wants them prominent and easy to understand, not buried in a policy appendix.

## What must your contracts with vendors say? {#vendor-contracts}

**Short answer.** South Carolina imposes no general data-processing-agreement requirement — no state statute prescribes controller-processor terms, audit rights, or deletion clauses for ordinary commercial vendor contracts. The contracting duties that do exist are sectoral. The GLBA Safeguards Rule requires financial institutions to bind service providers by contract to implement and maintain appropriate safeguards [^q5-glba-safeguards]; HIPAA requires a written business-associate contract with mandatory data-protection terms before protected health information changes hands [^q5-hipaa-baa]; and South Carolina insurance licensees must exercise due diligence in selecting third-party service providers and require them to implement administrative, technical, and physical safeguards for nonpublic information [^q5-insurance-vendors].

The breach statute supplies the one vendor duty of general application: a business that maintains computerized personal identifying information it does not own must notify the data's owner or licensee immediately following discovery of a breach [^q5-breach-maintainer]. That *immediately* standard is faster than the expedient-time clock that governs notice to residents, so vendor agreements on both sides of the table should pass it through expressly. Outside the regulated verticals, carry the familiar protections forward as contract best practice even though no South Carolina statute compels them: processing limited to documented instructions, confidentiality, reasonable security, breach notification back to your business on the statute's immediacy standard, cooperation with your own notice duties, and return or deletion of data at the end of the engagement. Covered online services under Act 96 have an added reason to paper their adtech and analytics relationships carefully — the covered-service definition counts data bought, received, sold, or shared together with affiliates, and the targeted-advertising ban turns on what the service *facilitates*, which can include what its vendors do.

## When must you notify people of a data breach in South Carolina? {#breach-notification}

**Short answer.** When the breach creates real risk. A person conducting business in South Carolina that owns or licenses computerized personal identifying information must notify any resident whose unencrypted, unredacted personal identifying information was — or is reasonably believed to have been — acquired by an unauthorized person, when illegal use of the information has occurred, is reasonably likely to occur, or creates a material risk of harm to the resident; the disclosure must be made in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay [^q6-breach-trigger]. If notice goes to more than 1,000 persons at one time, the business must also notify the Consumer Protection Division of the Department of Consumer Affairs and the nationwide consumer reporting agencies of the timing, distribution, and content of the notice [^q6-breach-cra]. Insurance licensees face a separate, faster clock: notice to the Director of Insurance no later than 72 hours after determining a cybersecurity event occurred, when South Carolina is the licensee's home state or the event involves at least 250 South Carolina consumers and meets a regulatory-notice or material-harm condition [^q6-insurance-72hr].

The statute defines a reportable breach as unauthorized access to *and* acquisition of computerized data, not rendered unusable by encryption or redaction, that compromises the security, confidentiality, or integrity of personal identifying information, where illegal use has occurred, is reasonably likely, or creates a material risk of harm [^q6-breach-definition] — so South Carolina is a risk-of-harm state with no fixed day-count deadline for resident notice. *Personal identifying information* is a resident's first name or initial and last name combined with an unencrypted, unredacted Social Security number, driver's license or state ID number, financial-account or card number with its access code, or — a catch-all broader than most states — other numbers or information usable to access financial accounts or government-issued numbers that uniquely identify an individual [^q6-breach-pii]. Encryption and redaction function as practical safe harbors under the breach trigger and definition. Notice may be written, electronic, telephonic, or substitute notice in large or low-information cases, and a business following its own consistent notification procedures is deemed compliant if it meets the statute's timing requirements [^q6-breach-methods-policy]. Banks and financial institutions subject to and compliant with GLBA privacy and security provisions are outside the section, and financial institutions compliant with the federal interagency response-program guidance are considered compliant [^q6-breach-financial-safe-harbors]. The stick is double-edged: a knowing and wilful violation draws an administrative fine of $1,000 for each resident whose information was accessible, set by the Department of Consumer Affairs [^q6-breach-fine] — and, as the next section explains, the statute also lets injured residents sue directly.

## Can a consumer sue your business in South Carolina over privacy? {#consumer-lawsuit}

**Short answer.** Yes — more readily than in most states without a comprehensive privacy law, because the breach statute itself carries a private right of action. A resident injured by a violation of § 39-1-90 may institute a civil action to recover damages for a wilful and knowing violation, a civil action limited to actual damages for a negligent violation, an injunction to enforce compliance, and attorney's fees and court costs if successful [^q7-breach-pra]. SCUTPA adds a second private path: any person who suffers an ascertainable loss from a deceptive practice may sue individually — though not in a representative capacity — and the court must award treble damages for a willful or knowing violation, plus attorney's fees and costs on any violation [^q7-scutpa-pra].

The minors' design code runs through the Attorney General: the AG shall enforce Chapter 80, a covered online service is liable for treble the financial damages incurred as a result of a violation, and officers and employees can be held personally liable for wilful and wanton violations [^q7-act96-enforcement]. The act contains no cure period and no express private right of action — but its dark-pattern prohibition is expressly routed into SCUTPA: using dark patterns constitutes an unlawful trade practice under § 39-5-20, exposing the service to SCUTPA's provisions, penalties, and damages [^q7-act96-dark-patterns], which on the statute's face connects dark-pattern violations to the individual SCUTPA damages action. The practical exposure map for a South Carolina-facing business: mishandle a breach and you face resident suits under § 39-1-90(G) on top of Department of Consumer Affairs fines; misstate your privacy policy and SCUTPA supplies a deception theory if the plaintiff satisfies the statute's loss and individual-action requirements; violate the minors' design code and you face AG enforcement with treble financial damages and personal officer exposure. SCUTPA's individually-but-not-in-a-representative-capacity wording supports the SCUTPA class-action point only; the breach statute's private action contains no express representative-capacity wording in the quoted text.

[^about]: By Steven Obiajulu, J.D. Published by [openagreements.org](https://openagreements.org) · Maintained by [UseJunior](https://usejunior.com). Last reviewed 2026-06-11. License: CC BY 4.0. Steven Obiajulu, J.D. is admitted in New York, not South Carolina. This article synthesizes South Carolina primary law and is not legal advice from a South Carolina-admitted attorney. This article is for informational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client relationship.

[^q1-breach-scope]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(A)** — "A person conducting business in this State, and owning or licensing computerized data or other data that includes personal identifying information, shall disclose a breach of the security of the system following discovery or notification of the breach in the security of the data to a resident of this State whose personal identifying information that was not rendered unusable through encryption, redaction, or other methods was, or is reasonably believed to have been, acquired by an unauthorized person when the illegal use of the information has occurred or is reasonably likely to occur or use of the information creates a material risk of harm to the resident." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(A).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t39c001.php>

[^q1-scutpa-udap]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-5-20** — "Unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce are hereby declared unlawful." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-5-20(a).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t39c005.php>

[^q1-scutpa-pra]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-5-140(a)** — "Any person who suffers any ascertainable loss of money or property, real or personal, as a result of the use or employment by another person of an unfair or deceptive method, act or practice declared unlawful by Section 39-5-20 may bring an action individually, but not in a representative capacity, to recover actual damages. If the court finds that the use or employment of the unfair or deceptive method, act or practice was a willful or knowing violation of Section 39-5-20, the court shall award three times the actual damages sustained and may provide such other relief as it deems necessary or proper. Upon the finding by the court of a violation of this article, the court shall award to the person bringing such action under this section reasonable attorney's fees and costs." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-5-140(a).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t39c005.php>

[^q1-act96-preamble]: **Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts (H. 3431)** — "AN ACT TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING CHAPTER 80 TO TITLE 39 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A COVERED ONLINE SERVICE SHALL EXERCISE REASONABLE CARE IN THE USE OF MINORS' PERSONAL DATA, TO PROVIDE FOR CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS FOR COVERED ONLINE SERVICES, TO RESTRICT THE AMOUNT OF PERSONAL DATA OF A MINOR THAT MAY BE COLLECTED, TO PROVIDE FOR PARENTAL CONTROLS, TO PROVIDE FOR AN ANNUAL REPORT, AND TO PROVIDE FOR ENFORCEMENT." *Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts (H. 3431) (adding S.C. Code Ann. §§ 39-80-10 to 39-80-80).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q1-insurance-program]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 38-99-20(A)** — "Commensurate with the size and complexity of the licensee, the nature and scope of the licensee's activities, including its use of third-party service providers, and the sensitivity of the nonpublic information used by the licensee or in the licensee's possession, custody, or control, each licensee shall develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive written information security program based on the licensee's risk assessment and that contains administrative, technical, and physical safeguards for the protection of nonpublic information and the licensee's information system." *S.C. Code Ann. § 38-99-20(A).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t38c099.php>

[^q2-act96-covered-service]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-10(4)** — "‘Covered online service’ means a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, association, or other legal entity that owns, operates, controls, or provides an online service that conducts business in this State, is reasonably likely to be accessed by minors, determines the purposes and means of the processing of consumer's personal data alone, or jointly with its affiliates, subsidiaries, or parent company and either: (i) has annual gross revenues in excess of twenty-five million dollars, adjusted every odd-numbered year to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index; (ii) annually buys, receives, sells, or shares the personal data of fifty thousand or more consumers, households, or devices alone or in combination with its affiliates, subsidiaries, or parent company; or (iii) derives at least fifty percent of its annual revenue from the sale or sharing of consumers' personal data" *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-10(4)(a) (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q2-act96-affiliates]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-10(4)(b)** — "‘Covered online services’ include: (i) an entity that controls or is controlled by a business that shares a name, service mark, or trademark that would cause a reasonable consumer to understand that two or more entities are commonly owned; and (ii) a joint venture or partnership composed of businesses in which each business has at least a forty percent interest in the joint venture or partnership." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-10(4)(b) (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q2-act96-minor-def]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-10(8)** — "‘Minor’ means a consumer who is less than eighteen years of age." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-10(8) (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q2-act96-effective]: **Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts, § 4 (time effective)** — "This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. Ratified the 3rd day of February, 2026. Approved the 5th day of February, 2026." *Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts, § 4.* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q2-act96-treat-as-minors]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-10(17)(b)** — "Where subitem (a)(i) is met, the covered online service must treat the particular individual as a minor. Where subitem (a)(ii) is met, the covered online service must treat all individuals using or visiting the covered online service as minors, except where the covered online service has actual knowledge that the individual is not a minor." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-10(17)(b) (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q2-act96-exemptions]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-20(D)** — "The provisions contained in this chapter do not apply to: (1) a federal, state, tribal, or local government entity in the ordinary course of its operations; (2) personal data that is controlled by a covered online service that is: (a) required to comply with: (i) Title V of the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act; (ii) the federal Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act; or (iii) regulations promulgated pursuant to Section 264(C) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996; (b) in compliance with the information security requirements of the statutes or regulations identified in subitem (a); (3) information including, but not limited to, personal data collected as part of a clinical trial subject to the federal policy for the protection of human subjects pursuant to human subject protection requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration;" *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-20(D) (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q3-act96-reasonable-care]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-20(A)** — "A covered online service shall exercise reasonable care in the use of a minor's personal data and the design and operation of the covered online service including, but not limited to, covered design features, to prevent the following harm to minors: (1) compulsive usage of the covered online service; (2) severe psychological harm including, but not limited to, anxiety, depression, self-harm or suicidal ideations; (3) severe emotional distress; (4) highly offensive intrusions on the minor's reasonable privacy expectations; (5) identity theft; (6) discrimination against the minor on the basis of race, ethnicity, sex, disability, or national origin; and (7) material financial or physical injury." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-20(A) (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q3-act96-design-features]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-10(3)** — "‘Covered design feature’ means any feature or component of a covered online service that will encourage or increase a minor's frequency, time spent, or activity on a covered online service including, but not limited to: (a) infinite scroll or any design feature that automatically loads and displays content other than what the user prompted, requested, or searched for; (b) auto-playing videos or any design feature in which videos automatically begin playing when a user navigates to or scrolls through a set of videos; (c) gamification or any design feature that emulates gameplay including, but not limited to, streaks, badges, or rewards, that motivate or cause more frequent or more extensive use of a covered online service; (d) quantification of engagement including, but not limited to, providing a visible count of how many likes, comments, clicks, views, or reactions any user-generated item has received; (e) notifications and push alerts; (f) in-game purchases or any design feature in which digital items or tokens are purchased with virtual currency or other forms of payment, including where the purchased digital item can be shared with another user; or (g) appearance-altering filters." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-10(3) (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q3-act96-minimization]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-40(A)** — "Covered online services shall only collect, use, or share the minimum amount of a minor's personal data necessary to provide the specific elements of the covered online service with which a minor has knowingly engaged. Such personal data may not be used for reasons other than those for which it was collected. Minors' personal data collected for age verification or estimation cannot be used for other purposes and must be deleted after use." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-40(A) (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q3-act96-targeted-ads]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-40(C)** — "Covered online services may not facilitate targeted advertising to minors." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-40(C) (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q3-act96-defaults]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-40(G)** — "Settings for the protections required under this section must be set at the highest level of protection by default." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-40(G) (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q3-act96-user-tools]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-30(A)** — "A covered online service must provide a user or visitor to the service with easily accessible and easy-to-use tools to: (1) disable design features including, but not limited to, all covered design features, that are not necessary to provide the covered online service by allowing users to opt out of the use of all such design features or any combination of such design features; (2) limit the amount of time the user spends on the covered online service;" *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-30(A) (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q3-act96-recsys-default]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-30(B)** — "A covered online service must provide to a user the option to opt out of personalized recommendation systems, except for optimizations based on the user's expressed preferences. A covered online service must establish this option as a default setting for any individual the covered online service knows to be a minor." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-30(B) (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q3-act96-parental-tools]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-50** — "Covered online services must provide parents with accessible and easy-to-use tools to help parents protect and support minors using the covered online services and these shall be on by default for any individual the covered online service knows to be a minor. (B) The parental tools provided by the covered online services shall provide to the parents the ability to: (1) manage the minor's account settings and change and control the minor's privacy and account settings; and (2) restrict a minor's purchases and other financial transactions. (C) Among the parental tools provided by covered online services shall be one to enable parents to view the total time spent on a covered online service by a user the covered online service knows is a minor and allow the parent to place limits on the minor's use of the covered online service. The parental tools provided by covered online services must also offer parents the ability to restrict a minor's use of the covered online service during times of day specified by the parents, including during school hours and at night. (D) Covered online services must notify a minor when any of the tools described in this section are in effect and what settings have been applied." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-50 (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q3-act96-data-controls]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-40(B)-(H)** — "A covered online service shall only retain a minor's personal data as long as necessary to provide the specific elements of an online service with which a minor has knowingly engaged. (C) Covered online services may not facilitate targeted advertising to minors. (D) Precise geolocation information of minors cannot be collected by default unless necessary to the provision of the covered online service. An obvious notice to the minor must be provided when precise geolocation information is being collected or used. (E) A covered online service must provide users with accessible and easy-to-use tools to prevent notifications and push alerts to an individual during specified times. To comply with this requirement, a covered online service must offer the user the option to prevent notifications and push alerts to an individual the covered online service knows is a minor between the hours of ten p.m. and six a.m. seven days a week year round and between the months of August and May between the hours of eight a.m. and three p.m. Monday through Friday in the minor's local time zone. (F) A covered online service shall not profile an individual the covered online service knows is a minor, unless profiling is necessary to providing the covered online service with which a minor has knowingly requested and is limited to only the aspects of the covered online service with which a minor is actively and knowingly engaged. (G) Settings for the protections required under this section must be set at the highest level of protection by default. (H) If a covered online service allows parental monitoring or is required to provide parental monitoring by law, then it must provide obvious notice to the minor when they are being monitored." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-40(B)-(H) (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q3-act96-harm-ads]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-60(A)-(B)** — "Covered online services shall establish mechanisms for parents, minors, and schools to report harm to minors on covered online services, especially those harms that pose an imminent threat to a minor. (B) Covered online services are prohibited from facilitating ads directed to minors for products prohibited for minors including, but not limited to, narcotic drugs, tobacco products, gambling, and alcohol to users the covered online services know are minors." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-60(A)-(B) (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q3-act96-effective]: **Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts, § 4 (time effective)** — "This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. Ratified the 3rd day of February, 2026. Approved the 5th day of February, 2026." *Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts, § 4.* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q3-act96-audit]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-70(A)** — "Annually, on or before July first, the covered online service must issue a public report prepared by an independent third-party auditor that contains a detailed description of the covered online service as it pertains to minors, including its covered design features, its use of personal data, and its business practices as they pertain to minors. The public report must be submitted to the Attorney General who shall post it in a prominent place on his internet website." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-70(A) (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q4-ftc-deceptive]: **FTC Act § 5** — "Unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce, are hereby declared unlawful." *15 U.S.C. § 45(a)(1).* <https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/45#:~:text=Unfair%20methods%20of%20competition%20in,commerce%2C%20are%20hereby%20declared%20unlawful.>

[^q4-scutpa-ftc-guided]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-5-20(b)** — "It is the intent of the legislature that in construing paragraph (a) of this section the courts will be guided by the interpretations given by the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Courts to Section 5(a) (1) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45(a)(1)), as from time to time amended." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-5-20(b).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t39c005.php>

[^q4-scutpa-pra]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-5-140(a)** — "Any person who suffers any ascertainable loss of money or property, real or personal, as a result of the use or employment by another person of an unfair or deceptive method, act or practice declared unlawful by Section 39-5-20 may bring an action individually, but not in a representative capacity, to recover actual damages. If the court finds that the use or employment of the unfair or deceptive method, act or practice was a willful or knowing violation of Section 39-5-20, the court shall award three times the actual damages sustained and may provide such other relief as it deems necessary or proper. Upon the finding by the court of a violation of this article, the court shall award to the person bringing such action under this section reasonable attorney's fees and costs." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-5-140(a).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t39c005.php>

[^q4-act96-disclosures]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-60(E)** — "Covered online services are required to provide comprehensive, clear, conspicuous, and easy-to-understand information in a prominent location describing the design safety for minors, the privacy protections for minors, and the parental tools that the covered online service has adopted pursuant to this chapter." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-60(E) (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q4-act96-recsys-terms]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-60(D)** — "Each covered online service that utilizes personalized recommendation systems is required to describe in its terms and conditions, in a clear, conspicuous, and easy-to-understand manner, how the systems are used to provide information to minors and information regarding how minors or their parents can opt out of or control the systems." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-60(D) (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q4-hipaa-notice]: **HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices** — "an individual has a right to adequate notice of the uses and disclosures of protected health information that may be made by the covered entity, and of the individual's rights and the covered entity's legal duties with respect to protected health information" *45 C.F.R. § 164.520.* <https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/45/164.520#:~:text=an%20individual%20has%20a%20right,respect%20to%20protected%20health%20information>

[^q5-glba-safeguards]: **GLBA Safeguards Rule** — "Oversee service providers, by: (1) Taking reasonable steps to select and retain service providers that are capable of maintaining appropriate safeguards for the customer information at issue; (2) Requiring your service providers by contract to implement and maintain such safeguards; and (3) Periodically assessing your service providers based on the risk they present and the continued adequacy of their safeguards." *16 C.F.R. § 314.4(f)(2).* <https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/16/314.4#:~:text=Oversee%20service%20providers%2C%20by%3A%20(1),continued%20adequacy%20of%20their%20safeguards.>

[^q5-hipaa-baa]: **HIPAA Business Associate Contracts** — "A contract between the covered entity and a business associate must: (i) Establish the permitted and required uses and disclosures of protected health information by the business associate. The contract may not authorize the business associate to use or further disclose the information in a manner that would violate the requirements of this subpart, if done by the covered entity, except that: (A) The contract may permit the business associate to use and disclose protected health information for the proper management and administration of the business associate, as provided in paragraph (e)(4) of this section; and (B) The contract may permit the business associate to provide data aggregation services relating to the health care operations of the covered entity. (ii) Provide that the business associate will: (A) Not use or further disclose the information other than as permitted or required by the contract or as required by law; (B) Use appropriate safeguards and comply, where applicable, with subpart C of this part with respect to electronic protected health information, to prevent use or disclosure of the information other than as provided for by its contract;" *45 C.F.R. § 164.504(e)(2).* <https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/45/164.504#:~:text=A%20contract%20between%20the%20covered,provided%20for%20by%20its%20contract%3B>

[^q5-insurance-vendors]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 38-99-20(F)** — "A licensee shall: (1) exercise due diligence in selecting its third-party service provider; and (2) require a third-party service provider to implement appropriate administrative, technical, and physical measures to protect and secure the information systems and nonpublic information that are accessible to, or held by, the third-party service provider." *S.C. Code Ann. § 38-99-20(F).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t38c099.php>

[^q5-breach-maintainer]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(B)** — "A person conducting business in this State and maintaining computerized data or other data that includes personal identifying information that the person does not own shall notify the owner or licensee of the information of a breach of the security of the data immediately following discovery, if the personal identifying information was, or is reasonably believed to have been, acquired by an unauthorized person." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(B).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t39c001.php>

[^q6-breach-trigger]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(A)** — "A person conducting business in this State, and owning or licensing computerized data or other data that includes personal identifying information, shall disclose a breach of the security of the system following discovery or notification of the breach in the security of the data to a resident of this State whose personal identifying information that was not rendered unusable through encryption, redaction, or other methods was, or is reasonably believed to have been, acquired by an unauthorized person when the illegal use of the information has occurred or is reasonably likely to occur or use of the information creates a material risk of harm to the resident. The disclosure must be made in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay, consistent with the legitimate needs of law enforcement, as provided in subsection (C), or with measures necessary to determine the scope of the breach and restore the reasonable integrity of the data system." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(A).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t39c001.php>

[^q6-breach-cra]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(K)** — "If a business provides notice to more than one thousand persons at one time pursuant to this section, the business shall notify, without unreasonable delay, the Consumer Protection Division of the Department of Consumer Affairs and all consumer reporting agencies that compile and maintain files on a nationwide basis, as defined in 15 U.S.C. Section 1681a(p), of the timing, distribution, and content of the notice." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(K).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t39c001.php>

[^q6-insurance-72hr]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 38-99-40(A)** — "A licensee shall notify the director no later than seventy-two hours after determining that a cybersecurity event has occurred when either of the following criteria are met: (1) South Carolina is the licensee's state of domicile in the case of an insurer, or the licensee's home state in the case of a producer; or (2) the licensee reasonably believes that the nonpublic information involved is of no less than two hundred and fifty consumers residing in this State, and the cybersecurity event: (a) impacts the licensee of which notice is required to be provided to any governmental body, self-regulatory agency, or any other supervisory body pursuant to state or federal law; or (b) has a reasonable likelihood of materially harming a consumer residing in this State or a material part of the normal operations of the licensee." *S.C. Code Ann. § 38-99-40(A).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t38c099.php>

[^q6-breach-definition]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(D)(1)** — "‘Breach of the security of the system’ means unauthorized access to and acquisition of computerized data that was not rendered unusable through encryption, redaction, or other methods that compromises the security, confidentiality, or integrity of personal identifying information maintained by the person, when illegal use of the information has occurred or is reasonably likely to occur or use of the information creates a material risk of harm to a resident." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(D)(1).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t39c001.php>

[^q6-breach-pii]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(D)(3)** — "‘Personal identifying information’ means the first name or first initial and last name in combination with and linked to any one or more of the following data elements that relate to a resident of this State, when the data elements are neither encrypted nor redacted: (a) social security number; (b) driver's license number or state identification card number issued instead of a driver's license; (c) financial account number, or credit card or debit card number in combination with any required security code, access code, or password that would permit access to a resident's financial account; or (d) other numbers or information which may be used to access a person's financial accounts or numbers or information issued by a governmental or regulatory entity that uniquely will identify an individual." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(D)(3).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t39c001.php>

[^q6-breach-methods-policy]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(E)-(F)** — "The notice required by this section may be provided by: (1) written notice; (2) electronic notice, if the person's primary method of communication with the individual is by electronic means or is consistent with the provisions regarding electronic records and signatures in Section 7001 of Title 15 U.S.C. and Chapter 6, Title 11 of the 1976 Code; (3) telephonic notice; or (4) substitute notice, if the person demonstrates that the cost of providing notice exceeds two hundred fifty thousand dollars or that the affected class of subject persons to be notified exceeds five hundred thousand or the person has insufficient contact information. Substitute notice consists of: (a) e-mail notice when the person has an e-mail address for the subject persons; (b) conspicuous posting of the notice on the web site page of the person, if the person maintains one; or (c) notification to major statewide media. (F) Notwithstanding subsection (E), a person that maintains its own notification procedures as part of an information security policy for the treatment of personal identifying information and is otherwise consistent with the timing requirements of this section is considered to be in compliance with the notification requirements of this section if the person notifies subject persons in accordance with its policies in the event of a breach of security of the system." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(E)-(F).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t39c001.php>

[^q6-breach-financial-safe-harbors]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(I)-(J)** — "This section does not apply to a bank or financial institution that is subject to and in compliance with the privacy and security provision of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. (J) A financial institution that is subject to and in compliance with the federal Interagency Guidance Response Programs for Unauthorized Access to Consumer Information and Customer Notice, issued March 7, 2005, by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Office of Thrift Supervision, as amended, is considered to be in compliance with this section." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(I)-(J).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t39c001.php>

[^q6-breach-fine]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(H)** — "A person who knowingly and wilfully violates this section is subject to an administrative fine in the amount of one thousand dollars for each resident whose information was accessible by reason of the breach, the amount to be decided by the Department of Consumer Affairs." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(H).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t39c001.php>

[^q7-breach-pra]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(G)** — "A resident of this State who is injured by a violation of this section, in addition to and cumulative of all other rights and remedies available at law, may: (1) institute a civil action to recover damages in case of a wilful and knowing violation; (2) institute a civil action that must be limited to actual damages resulting from a violation in case of a negligent violation of this section; (3) seek an injunction to enforce compliance; and (4) recover attorney's fees and court costs, if successful." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-1-90(G).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t39c001.php>

[^q7-scutpa-pra]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-5-140(a)** — "Any person who suffers any ascertainable loss of money or property, real or personal, as a result of the use or employment by another person of an unfair or deceptive method, act or practice declared unlawful by Section 39-5-20 may bring an action individually, but not in a representative capacity, to recover actual damages. If the court finds that the use or employment of the unfair or deceptive method, act or practice was a willful or knowing violation of Section 39-5-20, the court shall award three times the actual damages sustained and may provide such other relief as it deems necessary or proper. Upon the finding by the court of a violation of this article, the court shall award to the person bringing such action under this section reasonable attorney's fees and costs." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-5-140(a).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t39c005.php>

[^q7-act96-enforcement]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-80** — "The Attorney General shall enforce the provisions contained in this chapter. (B) A covered online service shall be liable for treble the financial damages incurred as a result of a violation of this chapter. (C) The officers and employees of a covered online service may be held personally liable for wilful and wanton violations of this chapter." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-80 (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>

[^q7-act96-dark-patterns]: **S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-60(C)** — "Covered online services are prohibited from using dark patterns. (1) Use of dark patterns by a covered online service shall constitute an unlawful trade practice under Section 39-5-20 of the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act. (2) A covered online service that violates the provisions of this section are subject to the provisions, penalties, and damages of the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act." *S.C. Code Ann. § 39-80-60(C) (added by Act No. 96, 2026 S.C. Acts).* <https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/3431.htm>
