Privacy laws govern the collection, use, storage, protection, sharing, and deletion of personally identifiable information (PII) of consumers and employees—and the disclosure to consumers of what PII a business has collected about them. Examples of PII include names, addresses, telephone numbers, credit card information, online user names and passwords, and health care information. Many states have privacy laws, and these laws vary from state to state.

In Hawaii, privacy laws are designed to protect the personal information of both consumers and employees. The state adheres to various federal laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for health care information, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) for credit information. Hawaii has also enacted state-specific statutes that regulate the handling of personally identifiable information (PII). For example, the Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 487R requires businesses to provide notice to residents when their personal information is subject to a security breach. Additionally, Hawaii's laws mandate that businesses must take reasonable steps to protect personal information and dispose of it securely when it is no longer needed. The state does not have a comprehensive consumer privacy law like California's Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), but sector-specific regulations and general consumer protection laws offer some level of privacy safeguards. Businesses are expected to be transparent about their data collection practices and to provide consumers with information about the PII collected upon request.