Montana lawmakers passed several tech-related bills this year, the latest moves for a state that’s emerged as an unexpected leader on tech industry policies.
One lawmaker has led the charge: Sen. Daniel Zolnikov (R), a self-described “liberty-minded Republican” with a background in business and energy.
Zolnikov sums up his approach to legislating on emerging technology this way: “If we can see what’s coming and see how it could be detrimental and beneficial, [let’s] redirect it so that it’s beneficial.”
Montana in 2023 became among the first states to adopt a comprehensive data privacy law; became, along with Arkansas, one of the first to enact pro-Bitcoin “right-to-mine” laws; and banned TikTok, citing concerns about the Chinese Communist Party snooping into Montanans’ data. That law is on hold pending a lawsuit filed by TikTok.
Montana lawmakers have also passed nation-leading laws to protect genetic data and restrict the use of facial recognition technology by government entities.
Here are some of this year’s tech bills that were sent to Gov. Greg Gianforte (R).
Right to compute
Building on Montana’s 2023 digital “right to mine law,” lawmakers this year passed a first-in-the-nation law giving Montanans “a fundamental right to own and make use of technological tools, including computational resources.”
This so-called “right to compute law,” which Gianforte has signed, comes as artificial intelligence roars onto the scene and many states scramble to regulate the technology.
“There’s been a lot of very bad AI legislation,” said Zolnikov, the bill’s sponsor. Instead, he wanted to send the message that, “Wow, Montana went the opposite way of most states.”
The bill emerged from the Frontier Institute, a free market think tank in Montana where Zolnikov serves on the board. Similar legislation was introduced in New Hampshire. The concept is embraced by an emerging right-to-compute movement that advocates for the decentralization of computational power.
The Montana law also includes a provision requiring a risk management policy if AI is being used to control “in whole or in part” a critical infrastructure facility.
Read more: Right to compute bills push back on AI regulation
Separately, Montana lawmakers passed bills this year to regulate election-related and intimate image AI deepfakes, protect people against AI stealing their likeness, and to prevent the government from using AI to classify people or manipulate them cognitively.
Neural rights
Montana is poised to join California and Colorado in protecting people’s brain data from being collected, analyzed and monetized by companies.
The consumer electronics market is being flooded with wearable devices that can capture neural data, sparking concerns about brain privacy. Under a Zolnikov bill that was passed, companies would have to obtain “express consent” before collecting, using or disclosing a consumer’s neural data, among other protections.
The bill also includes an expanded definition of neurotechnology that includes “mental augmentation” — think chips implanted in people’s brains to maximize productivity or assist with dementia.
“If that happens in 20 years, we [will be] 20 years ahead of the curve,” Zolnikov said, adding that the technology will probably exist “a lot sooner.”
The neural rights protections are being added to Montana’s existing Genetic Information Privacy Act.
Read more: Lawmakers want to ensure your brain’s data stays private
Kill switches
Technology can now shut down a car engine remotely. Usually, this is an anti-theft feature. But Montana lawmakers worry this technology, whether in a car or an electronic device, could be misused.
Both the House and Senate unanimously passed a bill to prohibit the remote activation of a “kill switch” without a court order or warrant.
The bill includes exceptions to enforce sale, lease and rental agreements so long as consumers are made aware of the technology’s presence in advance. It also does not apply to features designed to kick in if a vehicle or its driver are incapacitated, or that shut off a car if it’s left idling for a long period of time.
“Your property is yours and should not be controlled by companies,” Senate President Pro Tem Kenneth Bogner (R), the bill’s sponsor, said in an Instagram post after it was passed.
Data privacy
A Zolnikov bill that was passed would update and expand a 2023 consumer data privacy law.
Currently, the law applies to companies that control or process the data of 50,000 or more Montana consumers. The updated law drops that threshold to companies collecting data on at least 25,000 consumers.
The revised law would include new data protections for minors, similar to those adopted by Colorado and Connecticut. It also makes it easier for consumers to opt out of having their data sold to third-party data brokers.
It would strengthen protections for sensitive data such as Social Security numbers and biometric data. It would strengthen enforcement provisions by allowing the attorney general to impose fines of up to $7,500 per violation and by removing a provision in the 2023 law that gave companies 60 days to “cure” a violation.
Another Zolnikov privacy bill that was passed aims to protect Montanans’ genomic information from ending up in foreign adversaries’ hands. It would bar medical and research facilities in the state from using genetic sequencing software from hostile nations such as China. And it would require genetic sequencing from Montana be stored in the U.S., not overseas.
A similar bill has also been introduced in Louisiana.
Blockchain innovation
A bill from Sen. Gayle Lammers (R) that was passed would establish a Montana blockchain and digital innovation task force to promote the “adoption of blockchain, financial technology, and digital innovation” in Montana. The task force would develop recommendations related to incentivizing these industries and regulating them with a final report due in July 2026.
A crypto-related bill from Zolnikov would allow what he calls “the nation’s first predictable framework” for network token corporations to become Montana entities while also establishing consumer protections. The Frontier Institute praised the bill as a “win for digital freedom” that creates “legal clarity” and “appropriate oversight.”