--- title: "Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act: Agent Website Checks" description: "Check Virginia privacy-law coverage, seller and buyer inquiry data, consumer requests, and appeal handling before briefing your website builder." canonical: "https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/virginia-data-protection-agent-website-check" --- ## Site navigation - [Scale With Search](https://scalewithsearch.com/) - Services - Services - [AI systems](https://scalewithsearch.com/ai-systems) - [Site build](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#site-build) - [Whole website fix](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#whole-website-fix) - [Content library with SEO](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#content-library) - [Working session](https://scalewithsearch.com/audit) - Start here - [Send your brief](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#send-your-brief) - [Example scope](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#review-the-example-scope) - [Prices and terms](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#prices-and-terms) - Industries - Real estate - [Real estate agents and teams](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate) - [Platforms, ownership, and IDX](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-website-platforms-ownership-idx) - [Search, content, and AI](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-search-content-ai) - [Inquiries, campaigns, and handoffs](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-website-inquiries-campaigns-handoffs) - [Buyer, seller, and local pages](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-buyer-seller-local-resources) - [Rules, privacy, and trust](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-website-rules-privacy-trust) - Browse by business - [Trades and home services](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-trades) - [Health, wellness, and animal care](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-practices) - [Law, finance, and IT](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-professional) - [Marketing and SEO agencies](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-agencies) - [Shops and manufacturers](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-manufacturing) - [Restaurants, shops, studios, and nonprofits](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-local-services) - Chiropractic practices - [Chiropractic and wellness practices](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/chiropractic-and-wellness-practices) - [Chiropractic and physical therapy clinics](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/chiropractic-and-physical-therapy-clinics) - [All industries](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/) - Resources - Free tools - [AI readiness check](https://scalewithsearch.com/check) - [Free tools](https://scalewithsearch.com/tools/) - [Free Starter Kit](https://scalewithsearch.com/kit/business-memory-starter-kit.zip) - Guides - [AI-native library](https://scalewithsearch.com/ai-native) - [Industry intelligence](https://scalewithsearch.com/intelligence) - [Office job guides](https://scalewithsearch.com/guides/) - [Business memory](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/business-memory-for-ai-agents-guide) - [Agent governance](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/ai-agent-governance-guide-small-business) - [Migration and ownership](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/leaving-vendor-ai-memory-guide) - Articles - [All articles](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/) - [What changed](https://scalewithsearch.com/changes/) - About - Evidence - [Proof](https://scalewithsearch.com/proof) - Scale With Search - [About](https://scalewithsearch.com/about) - [How it works](https://scalewithsearch.com/how-it-works) # Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act: check your agent website A typical solo agent or small team likely falls below the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act's general coverage thresholds. That is an inference from the thresholds, not a finding about your business. Confirm the responsible entity, consumer counts, and data-sale revenue before relying on it. [Code of Virginia § 59.1-576(A), checked 2026.10.14](https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title59.1/chapter53/section59.1-576/). For your own website, start with that decision. Then inspect where seller and buyer inquiries go. If the law covers the business, require working privacy-request and appeal routes alongside ordinary inquiry delivery. This article is general information, not legal advice. Confirm applicability, exceptions, and website requirements with counsel. Scale With Search builds websites and AI systems. It does not provide compliance, consent, or legal services. ## Establish coverage before buying website controls The general test covers persons conducting business in Virginia or producing products or services targeted to Virginia residents. It also requires either threshold below. [§ 59.1-576(A), checked 2026.10.14](https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title59.1/chapter53/section59.1-576/). | Threshold | Evidence to prepare | | --- | --- | | During a calendar year, controls or processes personal data of **at least 100,000 consumers** | The reviewed entity, annual consumer count, counting method, and included processing | | Controls or processes personal data of **at least 25,000 consumers** and derives **over 50% of gross revenue from selling personal data** | The consumer count plus accounting records and counsel's classification of sale revenue | Source for both thresholds: [§ 59.1-576(A), checked 2026.10.14](https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title59.1/chapter53/section59.1-576/). The law has no separate dollar-revenue threshold in this general test. High commission income alone does not establish coverage. A consumer is a Virginia resident acting in an individual or household context. Commercial and employment contexts are excluded. A controller determines the purposes and means of processing, alone or jointly. [§ 59.1-575, checked 2026.10.14](https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title59.1/chapter53/section59.1-575/). Give counsel the agent business, team company, brokerage, form accounts, and vendor agreements. Ask which entity controls each activity. Prepare its relevant processing records beyond this website. Keep page views, repeat submissions, and closed transactions separate from a consumer count. Ask counsel how to count identifiable browsing records and relocation inquiries. ## Check exclusions against the actual records Section 59.1-576 contains entity and data exemptions. These include specified financial institutions or data subject to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, HIPAA-governed entities, nonprofits, and higher education institutions. [§ 59.1-576(B)–(C), checked 2026.10.14](https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title59.1/chapter53/section59.1-576/). For a claimed exemption, obtain the exact provision and affected entity or records. A mortgage discussion on your website does not establish an exemption for every inquiry. Ask counsel to assess the activity and agreements. Personal data includes information linked or reasonably linkable to an identifiable person. Qualifying public information and de-identified data are excluded. [§ 59.1-575, checked 2026.10.14](https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title59.1/chapter53/section59.1-575/). Separate public property records from a visitor's private contact details, saved search, and question. Virginia defines sale through **monetary consideration**, with listed exclusions. Targeted advertising has a separate definition concerning activity across nonaffiliated websites or applications. [§ 59.1-575, checked 2026.10.14](https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title59.1/chapter53/section59.1-575/). Have counsel classify transfers and tracking from their purposes and contracts. Do not copy California sale-or-sharing conclusions into the Virginia worksheet. ## Map the inquiry path even below the thresholds The following website checks are editorial recommendations for any agent or team. They do not impose every VCDPA duty on a below-threshold business. | Website path | What to inspect | Evidence to retain | | --- | --- | --- | | Seller valuation or contact form | Requested fields, storage, receiving account, and later uses | Field list, destinations, and matching test receipt | | Buyer consultation or property question | Parent website, embedded search, and any separate search domain | Account owner, vendor responsibilities, and delivery result | | Analytics, advertising tags, chat, or scheduling | Identifiers, purposes, recipients, permissions, and contracts | Current settings and observed transfers | | Public privacy page | Statements about collection, use, sharing, and contact methods | Approved copy compared with the actual data map | Limit ordinary forms to the property question and reply details needed. Assign someone to answer privacy questions. Record who can locate, correct, or remove each stored copy. Keep transaction records and legal holds within the brokerage's approved process. Save a dated coverage decision with assumptions and unresolved items. Review it after a relevant ownership, vendor, market, or data-use change. Ask counsel whether other laws or contract duties affect the site. ## Turn confirmed coverage into a website brief For covered controllers, the notice must describe data categories, purposes, rights methods, appeals, and third-party sharing categories. Sale or targeted advertising requires conspicuous disclosure and an opt-out explanation. Request methods must be secure, reliable, and suited to normal interactions. A new account cannot be required, although an existing account may be used. [§ 59.1-578(C)–(E), checked 2026.10.14](https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title59.1/chapter53/section59.1-578/). Have counsel approve the notice and request methods. Give the builder the actual form fields, destinations, approved wording, and expected behavior. Require accessible notice and request links from the relevant inquiry pages as a website acceptance condition. Covered controllers must limit collection, protect data, and obtain consent for incompatible secondary uses and sensitive-data processing, subject to statutory qualifications. Sensitive data includes precise device geolocation and specified health, citizenship, biometric, and child information. [§§ 59.1-575 and 59.1-578(A), checked 2026.10.14](https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodefull/title59.1/chapter53/). The current statute also prohibits selling or offering to sell precise consumer geolocation. It contains additional rules for known children's data. [§ 59.1-578(A)(6), (F), checked 2026.10.14](https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title59.1/chapter53/section59.1-578/). Have counsel review any relevant location-enabled or child-directed feature. Keep private health and identity documents out of ordinary inquiry forms. ## Assign consumer requests and appeals separate clocks Consumers can request access, correction, and deletion. For automated processing, they can request portable copies of data they provided, where technically feasible. They can opt out of targeted advertising, sale, and profiling for decisions with legal or similarly significant effects. Housing is included in that decision definition. [§§ 59.1-575 and 59.1-577(A), checked 2026.10.14](https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodefull/title59.1/chapter53/). For each request, record receipt time, requested right, authentication status, affected systems, responsible person, and completion evidence. Assign the website, form provider, search provider, CRM, and retained exports where applicable. Have counsel approve authentication and any claimed retention exception. The statute preserves specified legal, contract, and security processing. [§§ 59.1-577(B)(4) and 59.1-582, checked 2026.10.14](https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodefull/title59.1/chapter53/). | Event | Statutory response rule | Workflow requirement to brief | | --- | --- | --- | | Consumer request | Without undue delay, within **45 days** of receipt | Timestamp receipt and assign an owner | | Necessary request extension | Once, up to **45 additional days**, with reasons communicated within the initial period | Preserve the extension notice and revised due date | | Refusal to act | Without undue delay, within **45 days**, with justification and appeal instructions | Send the approved reason and working appeal route | | Appeal | Within **60 days** of appeal receipt, provide a written decision and reasons | Start a distinct appeal record and response clock | | Denied appeal | Provide a way to contact the Attorney General to complain | Include the reviewed complaint destination or contact method | Source: [§ 59.1-577(B)–(C), checked 2026.10.14](https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title59.1/chapter53/section59.1-577/). The appeal process must be conspicuously available and similar to the original request process. The request extension is not an automatic extension of the appeal deadline. Brief an appeal action that reaches the assigned reviewer. Require the reviewer to inspect the original request, refusal reason, authentication record, and vendor evidence. Give appeals a labeled route. If using a shared inbox, require a distinct appeal record and confirmed reviewer receipt. Processors must assist controllers with consumer requests. Their contracts must define instructions, purposes, data types, duration, and responsibilities. Certain higher-risk activities require documented data protection assessments. [§§ 59.1-579–580, checked 2026.10.14](https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodefull/title59.1/chapter53/). Keep those legal and vendor decisions with the responsible advisers and account owners. ## Require evidence for delivery and rights handling The Virginia review separates legal coverage, privacy requests, appeals, and ordinary service inquiries. Supply counsel-approved website requirements at [whole website fix: Virginia request routes](/for/real-estate). The whole website fix agrees acceptance checks before collecting payment. [Published work offer, checked 2026.10.14](https://scalewithsearch.com/work). - [Test the seller inquiry path on your real estate website](/articles/seller-inquiry-path-agent-website) - [Check your real estate website in 30 minutes](/articles/real-estate-website-audit) - [Own your real estate website: domain, hosting, editing, and leads](/articles/own-your-site) ## Related: Real estate - [Test the seller inquiry path on your real estate website](/articles/seller-inquiry-path-agent-website) - [Check your real estate website in 30 minutes](/articles/real-estate-website-audit) - [Own your real estate website: domain, hosting, editing, and leads](/articles/own-your-site) ---- ```text .|########||. .|########||. .|########||. |##||. .||##|. |##||. .||##|. |##||. .||##|. |#|. .|#|. |#|. .|#|. |#|. .|#|. |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#. .#| .#. .#| .#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| .# ||#########| #| .# ||#########| #| .# ||#########| #| .#. |######||######|. .#. .#. |######||######|. .#. .#. |######||######|. .#. #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# # .||####|###########################|. # # .||####|###########################|. # # .||####|###########################|. # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || #. .######|#|#########| .# #. .######|#|#########| .# #. .######|#|#########| .# .#. |#####||||#####| .#. .#. |#####||||#####| .#. .#. |#####||||#####| .#. |# ||########|| #. |# ||########|| #. |# ||########|| #. |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#. |#. .#. |#. .#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. |##||. .||##| |##||. .||##| |##||. .||##| .||########||. .||########||. .||########||. Scale With Search 2026 [scalewithsearch.com](https://scalewithsearch.com) ```