California Consumer Privacy Act Expected on November Ballot
Privacy will get a big vote with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 likely on the November 6, 2018 ballot in California. If California finds the signature requirement has been met, which seems likely, voters will have the ability to create the toughest data privacy legislation this November since Europe adopted GDPR.
The California Consumer Privacy Act contains a number of measures to enhance data privacy and protection for people in California:
– Businesses will need to tell consumers what categories of information they have collected on you, your devices and your children once a year, free of charge.
– Businesses need to tell you what personal information they are selling or disclosing and who is buying or receiving it.
– Businesses will need to display a link on the bottom of any page where they collect information that says “do not sell my data.”
– If you tell busineses not to sell your data, they can’t charge you more, deny you access, or change the quality of your service.
– It increases the fines and penalties for violations of the current law requiring implementation of reasonable security measures to safeguard the personal information of Californians.
Many are predicting that the law will also benefit individuals located outside of California because so many tech companies have their headquarters in California and may decide to provide the rights to everyone (like some have done because of GDPR) rather than establish classes of consumers from other jurisdictions who have less rights.
How is the bill coming to a vote? California is one of more than twenty states to allow citizens to propose new state statutes via initiative or referendum. The ballot initiative process in California gives citizens the ability to propose laws. If proponents of a law are able to gather the 300,000+ valid signatures necessary (and meet a few other requirements), than it is put on the ballot for the voters to decide whether it should be adopted.
The organization Californians for Consumer Privacy turned in 625,000 signatures and need 365,880 to be valid. Organizations seeking to put a proposal on the ballot typically turn in more signatures than necessary to avoid problems that might invalidate signatures such as one person signing the proposal multiple times. California will now go through the signatures for validity and determine whether they have gathered enough to put the measure on the ballot.
Businesses like Google, AT&T and Comcast have funded a political action committee to oppose the ballot initiative. Since March, Facebook and Verizon have withdrawn their opposition to the campaign.
June 28, 2018 Update:
The California Legislature has passed and Governor Brown has signed compromise legislation to implement the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 without the need for a ballot initiative. Here is information about the new CA privacy law:
Overview of the California Consumer Privacy Act
Right to Opt Out
Right to Access
Right to Delete
Opt In Consent for Kids
Effective Date for Compliance
Application to non-CA Businesses
Do Not Sell My Personal Information Link
Services Providers
Financial Incentives for Information Sharing
Deidentified and Aggregate Consumer Information
Government Fines and Consumer Damages
Text of AB-375
Clarip CA Consumer Privacy Act Services:
California Consumer Privacy Act Webinar
California Privacy Law Consulting Services
California Privacy Software
Blog Posts on the Privacy Law:
Will California’s Privacy Law Extend to the Rest of the Country?
Privacy Policy Changes Required by California Consumer Privacy Act
Big Day for California Privacy Law
California to Pass New Privacy Law
California Consumer Privacy Act Expected on November Ballot
More from Clarip:
Read the most recent posts on the Clarip Privacy Blog.
Learn more about the Clarip software for consent management, preference management and a cookie consent manager.
Find more resources about GDPR, ePrivacy and data privacy.