Proposed California Consumer Privacy Act Enforcement: AG, Whistleblowers and Consumers
The proposed California Consumer Privacy Act ballot initiative would have, if adopted, been enforced by the combination of public agencies, whistleblowers and consumers. June 2018 update: However, it did not pass.
The compromise privacy legislation has passed the California legislature in a bipartisan and unanimous fashion. It was then signed by Governor Jerry Brown. Here is information about the 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
Previously posted information about the ballot initiative (this did not become law):
California will decide this month whether it will be certified for the ballot in November or whether there are additional. Most experts are expecting it to be on the ballot given the number of signatures which were collected and sent to the state, so we thought it appropriate to take a few minutes to look at the text of the proposed bill for its enforcement measures. There were three:
Public Agency Enforcement
The proposed privacy law enables enforcement by the California Attorney General, any district attorney, any county counsel (if it violates a county ordinance and there is an agreement with the district attorney), and various city attorneys or city prosecutors.
Whistleblower Enforcement
The proposed California privacy law would enable persons with non-public information to receive a whistleblower reward for informing the California Attorney General of the privacy violations or commencing a lawsuit based on the information if the AG declined to file its own action. It would be the first privacy whistleblower law that we have heard of. There
To initiate a whistleblower suit, the individual files a clear and concise statement of the grounds for believing a violation has occured as well as a written request for the Attorney General to commence an action. If the AG does not file suit in 90 days from receipt, the whistleblower may file its own civil action against the business to enforce the law.
The monetary whistleblower award is 15 percent of the civil penalties if the Attorney General files a lawsuit with 90 days of the written request to commence a civil action. If the AG does not file within 90 days, the whistleblower may collect between 25 and 50 percent of the proceeds of their own action.
Consumer Enforcement
Consumers are able to bring a cause of action for statutory damages under the law if they have suffered a violation even if they have not suffered the loss of money or property. The current text of the bill enables consumers to recover either $1,000 or their actual damages, whichever is greater, for each violation.
If the violation was knowing and willful by a business, the statutory damages (if actual damages are not greater) will be set between $1,000 and $3,000 for each violation. The amount shall be set by the court considering, among other things, the nature and seriousness of the misconduct, the amount of violations, the misconduct’s persistence, the period of misconduct, the willfullness, and the defendant’s financial situation.
Unclaimed proceeds from a class action settlement to resolve violations of the law will be given to one or more nonprofit organizations to benefit the class or similarly situated persons.
About Clarip
Learn more about the Clarip products for GDPR consent, preference management software, an outsourced data protection officer and a cookie consent manager.