SB 827

Consumer Protection and Product Liability - Chatbots

Sponsor: Katie Fry Hester (District 9)Committee: FinanceSubject: Commercial Law - Consumer ProtectionStatus: Hearing 3/12 at 1:00 p.m. (as of Sep 4, 2026)

What this bill does

Official synopsis

Regulating the manner in which a developer designs and creates and an operator makes available to users in the State a chatbot, including establishing safety and privacy protections for users, establishing an enhanced protection for users who are minors under the age of 13 years, and requiring the display of certain warnings when using a chatbot; establishing that a chatbot is considered a product for certain product liability actions; applying certain provisions of the Act to governmental units; etc.

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Testimony (34)

MGA witness list

FAV 16FavorableFWA 3Favorable with amendmentsUNF 12UnfavorableINFO 3Information only

Position	Witness	Organization	Testimony
FAV	See, Anthony	American Youth Association	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	DeMinco, Lynne	BCRW	Position only
FAV	Winters, Ben	Consumer Federation of America (CFA)	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Schrohe, Kendall	Design It For Us	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Tao, Betsy	Distraction Free Schools MD, MCCPTA Technology Committee	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Williams, Kara	Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Bouffard, Brendan	Fairplay	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Fry Hester, Katie	Maryland Senate	Written (PDF)
FAV	Parikh, Riki	The Alliance for Secure AI	Written (PDF)
FAV	Jaisimha, Jai	Transparency Coalition.ai	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Campbell, Angela	self	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Agnew, William	Individual	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Bernstein, Gaia	Individual	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Maas, Katherine	Individual	Oral
FAV	Senator Hester, Senator Hesterlegislator	Individual	Oral
FAV	Smithing, Ava	Individual	Written (PDF)
UNF	Wadsworth, Adam	Association of National Advertisers	Written (PDF)
UNF	London, David	BSA	Written (PDF)
UNF	Lestock, Jake	CTIA	Written (PDF)
UNF	January, Briannalobbyist	Chamber of Progress	Oral + Written (PDF)
UNF	Gibbons, Jennifer	Entertainment Software Association	Written (PDF)
UNF	Wiggins, Grasonlobbyist	Maryland Chamber of Commerce	Written (PDF)
UNF	locklair, caileylobbyist	Maryland Retailers Association	Oral
UNF	Zirkle, Andrewlobbyist	Maryland Tech Council	Oral
UNF	Colbert, Renata	Motion Picture Association	Written (PDF)
UNF	Tibbals, Trudy	Individual	Position only
UNF	Vetter, Drew	Individual	Written (PDF)
UNF	durkin, margaretlobbyist	Individual	Oral + Written (PDF)
FWA	Anderson, Karrington	Maryland Association of Counties (MACo)	Oral + Written (PDF)
FWA	Richards, Evanlobbyist	Maryland Bankers Association	Oral + Written (PDF)
FWA	Boucher, Kathleen	Montgomery County, MD	Written (PDF)
INFO	Elalamy, Sara	Department of Information Technology (DoIT)	Written (PDF)
INFO	Baucum Colbert, Jordan	M-NCPPC - Senior Government Analyst	Written (PDF)
INFO	Abrams, Hanna	Individual	Written (PDF)

Organizations on record

American Youth AssociationFAV 1

Association of National AdvertisersUNF 1

BCRWFAV 1

BSAUNF 1

Chamber of ProgressUNF 1

Consumer Federation of America (CFA)FAV 1

CTIAUNF 1

Department of Information Technology (DoIT)INFO 1

Design It For UsFAV 1

Distraction Free Schools MD, MCCPTA Technology CommitteeFAV 1

Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)FAV 1

Entertainment Software AssociationUNF 1

FairplayFAV 1

M-NCPPC - Senior Government AnalystINFO 1

Maryland Association of Counties (MACo)FWA 1

Maryland Bankers AssociationFWA 1

Maryland Chamber of CommerceUNF 1

Maryland Retailers AssociationUNF 1

Maryland SenateFAV 1

Maryland Tech CouncilUNF 1

Montgomery County, MDFWA 1

Motion Picture AssociationUNF 1

selfFAV 1

The Alliance for Secure AIFAV 1

Transparency Coalition.aiFAV 1

Registered lobbyists who testified

UNFJanuary, BriannaChamber of ProgressRegistered for: Chamber of Progress

UNFWiggins, GrasonMaryland Chamber of CommerceRegistered for: Maryland Chamber of Commerce; United Way of Central Maryland, Inc.; Madison Marquette Property Investments LLC; Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund; Family Tree, The; OVG Facilities…

UNFlocklair, caileyMaryland Retailers AssociationRegistered for: HPSO Investments LLC, T/A Riverboat on the Potomac; Maryland Retailers Alliance; Maryland Retailers Association

UNFZirkle, AndrewMaryland Tech CouncilRegistered for: Technology Council of Maryland, Inc.

UNFdurkin, margaretRegistered for: TechNet

FWARichards, EvanMaryland Bankers AssociationRegistered for: Maryland Bankers Association