by Seaborn Larson Lee Newspapers - Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Montana's new consumer data protections law takes effect Tuesday, joining a handful of states that have advanced legislation on the matter before action by the federal government.

Senate Bill 384, also known as the Consumer Data Privacy Act, gives Montanans the rights to access or obtain copies of their data collected by online companies. The law will also give people the right to request a business delete personal data held by a company and opt out of the data collection process for purposes of targeted advertising or sale of their data to other companies.

Sen. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, said the universal opt out is "the big one" in the bill's provisions.