Recent state data privacy laws had started to align with Virginia's approach—which itself took its cues from a failed Washington state law—offering a temporary relief to companies collecting user data across the country. But that relief may have been short lived as the Hydra of data privacy regulation adds a couple of more heads.

In fact, a new regulatory trend may be emerging, one that takes a more sector-specific approach to protecting consumers' data rights. States like Washington, Utah or Arkansas have recently passed regulations that take a narrower—though compliance-heavy—approach to protecting certain data privacy rights of its constituents.