The Alliance of Illinois Repossessors (AIR) cheered the signing of SB 0800 into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzer, a development the organization said solidified the nation’s first law related to consumer data protection and repossessed vehicles.

The July 28 signing culminated an effort that began in January 2022 when AIR officials said they listened to a presentation via Zoom regarding data stored in vehicles. AIR board members said they immediately saw the need for an amendment to the current Illinois Collateral Recovery Act regarding personal property to include digital data.

AIR hired lobbyist Mike Axelrod and John Ryan from GPG Strategies to assist in putting this idea into law proposal.

The alliance said that on Feb. 2, SB 0800 was introduced to Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford, who immediately put her full support behind the bill, also seeing a need for such a law to protect the consumers of Illinois.

For the next several months, key members of AIR traveled to Springfield to testify in front of several committees, including the Consumer Protection Committee, on the importance of this bill.

“Through the entire process, SB 0800 was unanimously supported,” AIR said in a news release.

“The Alliance of Illinois Repossessors would like to thank its members, who funded this industry first bill, the team at GPG Strategies for guiding the bill along the way, Senate Leader Kimberly A. Lightford, and Chief of the House Kam Buckner for the unanimous support from the Illinois General Assembly,” the organization added.

In the upcoming weeks, AIR said its members will be developing standard operating procedures to maintain compliance with the amended Illinois Collateral Recovery Act and will be communicating with the industry regarding those procedures.