California

Keypoint: The California legislature has many pending privacy and AI-related bills to consider before it closes on August 31.

The California legislature left for its summer recess on July 3 and will reconvene on August 5. Once it returns, the legislature will have twenty-six days to pass bills before it recesses for the year on August 31.

In the below article, we identify and briefly summarize the pending privacy and AI bills and where they stand in the legislative process. The bills cover a wide range of topics, including kid’s privacy, opt-out preference signals, neural data, and algorithmic discrimination. All together, we are tracking fourteen bills, one of which was signed into law on July 15. The remaining thirteen bills all passed through their chamber of origin prior to the May 24 deadline and are at various stages of consideration in the opposite chamber.

Keypoint: The California legislature is considering several bills that, if passed, would add to the nation’s emerging legal patchwork governing the use of artificial intelligence.

In mid-May, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed the Colorado Artificial Intelligence Act (CAIA) into law, making Colorado the first state to enact legislation governing the use of high-risk artificial intelligence systems. Earlier this year, Utah enacted SB 149, which creates limited obligations for private sector companies deploying generative artificial intelligence, including disclosing its use.

The California legislature is currently considering seven AI-related bills that, if passed, would add to the growing patchwork of state AI laws. All of these bills have passed their chamber of origin and are currently being considered by the opposite chamber. While many state legislatures have already closed for the year, California’s legislative session does not end until August 31, 2024, meaning that there is still time for California to pass one or more bills.

In the below article, we briefly summarize these bills (as they are currently drafted) and identify their current status. We previously discussed four of these bills in our April 25 AI Legislation Update.

Elementary School Science Class: Little Girl Use Laptop with Gre

Keypoint: Last week, the FTC signaled an increased focus on COPPA enforcement, targeting education technology companies while California and federal lawmakers consider enacting new laws to regulate the processing of children’s data.

Over the past few months there has been a growing bipartisan consensus among lawmakers and regulators of the need for increased regulation around the processing of children’s data. In a sign of the significance of the issue, President Biden specifically addressed children’s data privacy in his State of the Union Address. As discussed below, recent actions by the Federal Trade Commission (the “Commission”) and lawmakers signal that companies processing children’s data should expect to see increased scrutiny.

Key Point: California AG Becerra’s investigation into security flaws in the Glow fertility app results in a settlement agreement that resembles recent enforcement agreements in New York but is also unique in requiring the app’s developer to consider gender-specific concerns within its privacy-by-design principles.

“When you meet with your doctor or healthcare provider in person, you know that your sensitive information is protected. It should be no different when you use healthcare apps over the internet,” according to California’s Attorney General Becerra. The consequences of not having the appropriate data protections? It means “a digital disclosure of your private medical records is instantaneously and eternally available to the world” per Becerra.

For these reasons, especially in the new era of telemedicine, developers of medical applications (health app) understand that consumers’ privacy and security must be protected. “Excuses are not an option,” Becerra warns. California’s settlement agreement with Upward Labs Holdings, Inc. (Upward Labs) and its subsidiary Glow, Inc. (Glow), is an example that Becerra’s warning should not be ignored.

Keypoint: The California Attorney General’s office once again published proposed modifications to its CCPA regulations. The modifications primarily focus on making changes to the provisions dealing with the right to opt out and authorized agent requests.

On October 12, 2020, the California Department of Justice published a third set of proposed modifications to its California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) regulations. The deadline to submit written comments is October 28, 2020.

The proposed modifications were published less than two months after the CCPA regulations went into effect on August 14, 2020. In general, the proposed changes focus on the provisions concerning the notice of the right to opt-out, requests to opt-out, and the use of authorized agents for making requests.

The proposed modifications are as follows:

Keypoint: Some additional changes to the CCPA regulations were made before they were filed with the Secretary of State and became effective.

As discussed in our prior post, on Friday, August 14, 2020, the California Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved the California Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) final CCPA regulations and filed them with the California Secretary of State (SOS). The regulations were immediately effective.

Notably, the final text of the regulations submitted to the SOS was modified from the one filed with the OAL. The OAG published an Addendum to the Final Statement of Reasons setting forth the changes. Many of the changes are stylistic and grammatical. However, some of the changes are substantive and will impact compliance efforts. The most notable changes are discussed below:

Conceptual image about how a laptop computer with internet open a virtual door to worldwide information sharing.Keypoint: The modified proposed regulations make substantial changes to the proposed regulations, including modifying how consumer notices must be drafted and changing some of the requirements for receiving and responding to consumer requests.

On Friday, February 7, 2020, the California Attorney General’s office published a notice of modifications to the text of the proposed regulations regarding the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The AG’s office also published redline and clean versions of the modified regulations.

The changes modify the proposed regulations published by the Attorney General’s office on October 11, 2019. The changes are the result of four public hearings held in December 2019 and the submission of over 1,700 pages of written comments. The Attorney General’s notice states that the department will accept written comments on the proposed changes until 5:00 p.m. on February 24, 2020.

Based on guidance previously published by the Attorney General’s office, this abbreviated comment period reflects the Attorney General’s determination that the changes are “substantial and sufficiently related,” but not “major,” which would require a new 45-day comment period. Following review of written comments, the Attorney General’s office will publish an updated informative digest and final statement of reasons (with summary and response comments) in addition to the final text of the regulations.

Members of Husch Blackwell’s privacy and data security practice group will host a webinar on Wednesday, February 12 at noon CST to review and discuss the modified regulations. To register, click here.

Below is our analysis of the modified regulations.

Conceptual image about how a laptop computer with internet open a virtual door to worldwide information sharing.Keypoint: 2020 promises to be another ground-breaking year in privacy and cybersecurity law in the United States.

2019 was an exciting year in privacy and cybersecurity law. In the United States, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) was the most significant story, but there also were developments in states such as New York and Nevada. Numerous other states also considered consumer privacy legislation, and federal lawmakers even jumped into the fray, proposing a variety of bills and regulations. Overseas, GDPR garnered the most headlines of course, but other countries, such as Brazil, also made news.

But 2019 was just the start. There is no doubt that privacy and cybersecurity law is undergoing a fundamental change in the United States. If nothing else, the legal landscape of privacy law in the United States promises to look very different by the end of the year.

Below we discuss what we anticipate will be the biggest stories in 2020 and beyond.

Keypoint: Those hoping that the final CCPA regulations will clarify its requirements may be disappointed. 

According to an article in Bloomberg Law, California Attorney General Becerra does not anticipate his office making substantial changes to the regulations as proposed when it issues the final regulations.

The AG’s office published the proposed regulations on October…