Californians approved a ballot measure to expand the stateâs landmark Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) of 2018.
Proposition 24 â also known as the California Privacy Rights and Enforcement Act of 2020 â will create a new state agency to enforce the CCPA. It will also create different tiers of data, levying stiffer fines on the misuse of âsensitiveâ data, like location or race. However, only companies that buy and sell the data from at least 100,000 customers a year would have to comply.
âWe are at the beginning of a journey that will profoundly shape the fabric of our society by redefining who is in control of our most personal information and putting consumers back in charge of their own data,â said Alastair Mactaggart, chair of Californians for Consumer Privacy and Prop 24âs sponsor. âIâm looking forward to the work ahead and the next steps in implementing this law, including setting up a commission that is dedicated to protecting consumers online.â
The CCPA, which took effect in January of this year, requires companies to disclose what data they are collecting while allowing consumers to limit or stop collection. Under the legislation, however, consumers can sue companies only if negligence led to the exposure of their data. Otherwise, the option to litigate remains with the state attorney generalâs office.
The general outlines of the CCPA owe much to what was originally a ballot proposition also backed Mactaggart, a Bay Area real estate developer, in 2018. He agreed to drop the ballot measure in exchange for more easily amendable legislation â but unhappy with the amendments that followed, he decided to finance another ballot measure, Proposition 24, framing it as his preferred set of âfixesâ to the CCPA.
Mactaggart spent more than $6.5 million on Prop 24, dwarfing the amount donated by any other supporter, and the $52,000 raised by the campaign against it.
âItâs unexpectedly close which affirms that Californiansâ privacy rights are not for sale. Thankfully, groups like ACLU and EFF will fight for truly strong privacy legislation to give all Americans control over their personal information,â said Mary Ross, erstwhile ally of Mactaggart who led the No on 24 campaign.
Data privacy advocates split on Prop 24
Its complexity â the ballot measure ran over 50 pages â was also an impediment to widespread enthusiasm and debate. Many privacy watchers say California voters like data privacy as a general concept, and were willing to presume the best about 24.
âOnly about half of US-based workers are aware of the CCPA, though those numbers are likely higher in California,â wrote Maureen Mahoney, a policy analyst with Consumer Reports. âHowever, many companies havenât made a good-faith effort to comply with the CCPA â companies including Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Spotify claim that the opt-out doesnât apply to their data practices, and consumers who tried to stop this data sharing were likely frustrated. Prop. 24 will help close up loopholes that companies have exploited to avoid complying with the CCPA, which will help ensure that consumers will be able to effectively exercise the privacy rights that they value,â she added.
Voters âhave no idea that the CCPA already gives them most of the rights in [Proposition 24],â said Santa Clara University law professor Eric Goldman, who co-directs the schoolâs High Tech Law Institute. âThus, many voters voted yes … because they mistakenly think itâs necessary to get any privacy rights at all.â
Consumer Reports and Common Sense were in the âyesâ camp, along with Andrew Yang, a former presidential candidate who was one of the foremost techies on the early campaign trail.
On the ânoâ side were the Consumer Federation of California, Media Alliance and a couple chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Even before Proposition 24âs big win, California was leading the nation on consumer data privacy, given the absence of comprehensive federal legislation. Does that mean Californiaâs new law will serve as a model for future federal legislation? That remains an open question, but Proposition 24âs backers have high hopes. âIt will sweep the country and Iâm grateful to Californians for setting a new higher standard for how our data is treated,â wrote Yang.
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