September 2019

We previously posted that Alastair Mactaggart, one of the co-authors of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), intended to submit a new ballot initiative to strengthen the privacy rights that already exist in the CCPA. The full text of the ballot measure – which is entitled the California Consumer Privacy Rights and Enforcement Act of 2020 – is now available on the California Attorney General’s website.  There also is an annotated version of the initiative available here.

While Mactaggart’s press release identified a few of the proposed changes, our initial review of the initiative is that it would bring about a substantial rewrite of the CCPA.  While there is a lot to unpack in this initiative, here are our initial highlights:

Alastair Mactaggart, Founder & Chair of Californians for Consumer Privacy, announced that he intends to file a ballot initiative – the California Privacy Enforcement Act – to appear on the November 2020 ballot. According to his press release, the new law would:

  • Create new rights around the use and sale of sensitive personal information, such as

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Keypoint: The California Attorney General’s office is on track to publish draft CCPA regulations in October and final regulations by year end. Although the exact contours of the regulations are yet to be determined, businesses subject to the CCPA will need to understand the regulations and integrate their requirements into their CCPA compliance efforts.

The final piece of the CCPA puzzle should be in place by year end. According to Bloomberg Law, the California Attorney General’s office is on track to publish draft CCPA regulations in October and final regulations by the CCPA’s January 1, 2020, effective date. That report is in line with prior expectations that the AG’s office would publish draft regulations shortly after the California Governor’s October 13 deadline to sign the CCPA amendments that passed the legislature on September 13.

Although the CCPA becomes effective on January 1, 2020, the AG’s office cannot bring an enforcement action “until six months after the publication of final regulations . . . or July 1, 2020, whichever is sooner.” Therefore, it appears the AG’s office could potentially be poised to start enforcement actions prior to July 1, 2020.

Key Point: The FTC’s fine is the largest for any COPPA-related incident; however, two issues of first impression alleged in the Complaint could have a more significant impact over the long term.

We previously reported that the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) entered into a settlement agreement with Facebook, Inc., which included a record-breaking $5 billion fine for repeat violations of consumers’ privacy rights. The FTC recently announced that it had entered into a settlement with Google, LLC (“Google”) and its subsidiary YouTube, LLC (“YouTube”), in which those entities will pay a $170 million fine for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) Rule. The $170 million fine is the largest the FTC has issued in a COPPA case since Congress enacted the law in 1998.

September 13 was the final day for the California legislature to pass bills amending the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) prior to its January 1, 2020, effective date. After months of speculation and anticipation, we finally have clarity (subject to the Governor’s approval) on the CCPA’s provisions.

Although there were changes – and both business and privacy advocates are claiming victories – the CCPA did not undergo a dramatic change. For businesses, the most notable changes are the addition of limited exemptions for the personal information of employees and business to business contacts as well as changes to the definition of personal information. On the other hand, privacy advocates will point to what did not change, namely, the CCPA retained its core privacy rights.

Below we discuss the changes.

Key Point: If signed by the Governor, the legislation will expand the types of personal information covered by the CCPA’s provision authorizing private litigants to seek statutory damages of between $100 and $750, per consumer per incident, for data breaches.

On September 6, the California legislature passed amendments to the state’s data breach notification statutes (Cal.…

Friday, September 13 is the final day for the California legislature to pass bills amending the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Join us on Monday, September 16 for a first look at what bills passed and how any amendments will impact your CCPA compliance efforts. During this webinar, we will review and discuss the fate of numerous…

Key Point:  On October 1, 2019, the amendments to Nevada’s privacy policy statute will go into effect, requiring entities subject to the statute to revise their online privacy policies and create an internal process to ensure compliance with the new opt-out right.

As we initially discussed back in May, the Nevada legislature recently amended the state’s existing online…