Episode 23 - California’s New Data Privacy Law

“California enacts the strictest online privacy law in the country!” trumpeted CNN/Tech. A statute passed unanimously in the legislature and immediately signed by Governor Brown, AB 375, had the support of large tech firms and privacy advocates. It moves California in the direction of the European Union, granting rights to California consumers concerning personal information they share online. The Data Privacy Detective turns his magnifying glass on this statute. It will have an impact. If California were a country, it would boast the world’s fifth largest economy.

California has citizen initiative rights that let people propose laws enacted by a popular vote, bypassing the legislature. Enraged by the Cambridge Analytica scandal of data shared by Facebook that ended up sold without consumers’ direct knowledge for political campaign purposes, a wealthy Californian tired of waiting for the legislature to act. He promoted an initiative aimed at creating tough consumer data privacy protections. Alarmed by the proposal, California’s large tech community backed a quick legislative response that is a compromise compared to the initiative language. It was drafted, enacted, approved and signed into law in about a week, and the initiative leader withdrew his effort and supported the outcome. See www.caprivacy.org.

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