Back in June, the California Consumer Privacy Act qualified for the November 2018 ballot. At the same time, a bill with similar privacy protections was advancing through the California Legislature. This second bill was supported by the Californians for Consumer Privacy advocacy group. In order to get the second bill introduced to the legislature, the advocacy group had to get 365,880 signatures from California residents. It ended up submitting 630,000 signatures instead.
Alastair Mactaggart, Chief Proponent of the California Privacy Act and Chairman of Californians for Consumer Privacy, said of the bill’s qualification, “We are thrilled that the California Consumer Privacy Act has qualified for the November ballot, and grateful to California voters for showing their support for fundamental privacy rights for consumers.”
He continued, “California now has two opportunities to empower consumers to take back control of our personal information: one sits before the California Legislature, and the other can now appear on the ballot. We look forward to either the Legislature’s successful passage of AB 375 or continuing our initiative campaign through November. We’re heartened by the momentum behind these endeavors, and the protections that both efforts seek to provide for consumers and our children.”
Two days later, AB 375 passed. The Californians for Consumer Privacy advocacy group applauded the California State Legislature for enacting the bill. As a result, the advocacy group withdrew the California Consumer Privacy Act from the November ballet.
Mactaggart said of the bill’s passage, “We are thrilled that AB 375 has become law. This is a monumental achievement for consumers, with California leading the way in creating unprecedented consumer protections for the rest of the nation. As the effort to empower Californians with critical privacy protections continues, we are appreciative of the participation of many stakeholders and privacy advocates in this process, and look forward to their continued involvement as the vision for greater consumer privacy becomes reality. It’s my strong belief that these new California rights will soon extend to the rest of the United States.”
AB 375 includes a host of regulations. California citizens now have the right to know all data collected by businesses on them, to decline the sale of their information, to delete their data, to be informed of what kind of data will be collected before it is collected, to know the categories of third parties with whom their data is shared, and much more. When the bill was introduced to the legislature, it actually included fewer regulations than when it was voted into law.
These regulations, like those enacted in the European Union under GDPR, requires brands and retailers to have a detailed understanding of the data they use if they are to comply. They need to know where they’ve gotten the information from, how it has been and will be used, and where it is stored. Because of this, brands will have to work in close concert with third parties to make sure that they aren’t infringing on legislation at any point. To say that this process will be cumbersome, time-consuming, and costly is an understatement. Nevertheless, brands will have to comply to avoid punitive measures.