HB1753, the Hawaii Social Media Data Deletion Act, creates a new chapter in the Hawaii Revised Statutes governing certain large social media platforms. It requires covered platforms—defined by user base or revenue thresholds—to provide users with a clear and accessible way to delete their accounts, and it requires those platforms to permanently delete associated personal information and sensitive personal information after a confirmed deletion request. The bill also prohibits platform designs, terms, or procedures that obscure or delay deletion or require unnecessary additional information to complete a deletion request.
The bill sets out detailed definitions for personal information and sensitive personal information, covering a broad range of data such as identifiers, browsing history, geolocation, biometric data, health-related data, and neural data. After a deletion request is confirmed, a platform must archive the data for at least 45 days and delete it within 90 days, unless federal or state law requires otherwise. The bill also allows law enforcement, in an approved criminal investigation with an active case number, to direct a platform not to delete the data temporarily so it can be preserved for a subpoena, order, or warrant.
HB1753 would also require covered platforms to keep deletion-request records and compliance documentation for four years. Enforcement authority is assigned to the attorney general, who may bring civil actions, seek injunctive relief, and impose civil penalties of up to $250 per violation per day. The act is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2027, and it applies prospectively without disturbing existing rights, liabilities, or proceedings.
The overall sentiment reflected in the bill’s movement is favorable, with the measure advancing through Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection, Senate Judiciary, and conference committees with strong majority support and no recorded opposition in the final conference votes. The bill’s stated purpose and report title emphasize consumer privacy, account deletion rights, and preventing deceptive practices by social media companies. The main area of potential contention is the scope of the deletion mandate and the compliance burden on large platforms, especially given the broad data categories covered and the requirement to delete or archive information within specific timeframes.
Another point of tension is the balance between privacy rights and law enforcement access. The bill creates a narrow exception allowing preservation of data for an active criminal investigation, which suggests an effort to accommodate public safety concerns while still prioritizing user deletion rights. More broadly, the bill aligns Hawaii with emerging state privacy laws and could affect platform data retention, account management practices, and consumer privacy rights for Hawaii residents.
The bill would add a new social media protections chapter to the Hawaii Revised Statutes and impose affirmative data-deletion duties on covered social media platforms operating in or serving Hawaii residents. It would require deletion mechanisms, restrict deceptive user-interface practices, mandate deletion of personal and sensitive personal information, establish retention and timing rules, and authorize attorney general enforcement with civil penalties and injunctive relief. It would primarily affect large social media companies, their data retention systems, and their account-deletion workflows, while expanding user privacy rights under state law.
The bill appears to have broad support in the legislature, as shown by repeated committee and conference approvals with strong vote margins and no recorded final conference opposition. The framing of the bill as a privacy and consumer-protection measure suggests a generally positive reception, particularly around giving users control over account deletion and limiting continued retention of personal data. The absence of committee transcript material limits insight into detailed debate, but the voting history indicates the measure was not especially controversial at the final stages.
The most likely points of contention are the breadth of the data covered, the operational burden on covered platforms, and the enforceability of the deletion deadlines. Social media companies may object to the requirement to delete a wide range of personal and sensitive information, the 45-day archive period and 90-day deletion deadline, and the prohibition on interface designs that make deletion harder. Privacy advocates are likely to support those provisions, while law enforcement may focus on the exception allowing temporary retention of data in active investigations. The bill attempts to balance these interests, but the tension between user deletion rights, platform compliance costs, and investigative needs is the central policy issue.