California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA)

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On March 29, 2023, the California Office of Administrative Law (the “OAL”) approved the first substantive set of California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”) regulations from the California Privacy Protection Agency (the “CPPA”), which we addressed in a previous blog. Those regulations went into effect immediately. As discussed in a recent episode of Ropes & Gray’s privacy podcast, The Data Day, the CPPA has also begun consideration of an additional set of regulations that would implement other CPRA requirements, issuing an Invitation for Preliminary Comments on Proposed Rulemaking Cybersecurity Audits, Risk Assessments, and Automated Decisionmaking. Enforcement of the CPRA, including its implementing regulations, is scheduled to begin on July 1, 2023. However, on March 30, 2023—just one day after the OAL approved the CPPA’s regulations—the California Chamber of Commerce announced that it had filed suit in Sacramento Superior Court seeking to delay enforcement until 12 months after a final and complete set of regulations has been adopted.…

Continue Reading California Finalizes Privacy Regulations: Enforcement Scheduled to Begin in July 2023

In the new year, comprehensive privacy laws go into operation in five states:  California (January 1), Virginia (January 1), Colorado (July 1), Connecticut (July 1), and Utah (December 31).  Subsequent blog posts will cover each of these laws in detail.  In this post, we begin a series analyzing the impact of the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”) in greater depth. 

The CPRA will go into operation on January 1, 2023 and will be enforceable by the newly created California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA”) beginning on July 1, 2023. Passed by ballot initiative in November 2020, the CPRA amends and expands the California Consumer Privacy Act (together with the CPRA, the “CCPA/CPRA”), already the most far-reaching privacy legislation currently in operation in the United States.  As amended, the CCPA/CPRA expands consumer privacy rights and data processing obligations, creating new rights to limit the use of sensitive personal information and to correct personal information stored by a business.  It implements certain “principles of processing” like the purpose limitation, requiring businesses to evaluate their uses of personal information to ensure they are proportionate to the requirements of disclosed business and commercial purposes.  It also enhances opt-out rights in the context of cross-context behavioral advertising and requires that businesses enter into new contractual terms with service providers to which they disclose the personal information of California residents.…

Continue Reading Companies Wrestle with Compliance in the Lead Up to Effectiveness of the CPRA and Other State Privacy Laws

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At a meeting of the California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA”) on June 8, we learned additional information about the initial batch of proposed regulations (“Proposed Regulations”) to the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”) that were published on May 27. The Proposed Regulations keep much of the pre-existing California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) regulations but modify and add some key provisions. Because the CPRA was drafted as an amendment to the CCPA, the Proposed Regulations reference the CCPA (as amended by the CPRA). The Proposed Regulations focus on data subject rights, contractual requirements, and obligations related to disclosures, notices, and consents. Additional proposals will cover cybersecurity audits, privacy risk assessments, and automated decision making, among other areas. While we expect significant changes as the Proposed Regulations proceed through the formal rulemaking process, which the CPPA has not yet officially started, we provide our key takeaways below:…

Continue Reading Recent Activity from the California Privacy Protection Agency

As 2021 comes to a close, it is a great time to take stock of the present state of affairs with respect to U.S. privacy laws. With the relatively recent passage of comprehensive privacy laws in California, and additional countries adopting laws that closely follow the principles of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), along with increasing public concerns regarding how companies manage customers’ personal data, legal practitioners entered 2021 with high hopes that comprehensive federal privacy legislation may finally be on the horizon. Nevertheless, in a trend that is likely to continue in the year ahead, it was the states rather than federal legislatures that successfully added to the ranks of privacy laws with which businesses will soon need to comply.
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Continue Reading Momentum Builds for State Privacy Laws but the Possibility of a Federal Law Remains Remote

BillBuilding on the momentum of the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”),  California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”), and the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (“CDPA”), and the consideration of similar laws in states like Washington and New York, Minnesota’s legislature is debating HF 36, introduced on January 7, 2021, and HF 1492, introduced on February 22, 2021. Significantly, HF 36 grants consumers a private right of action for any violation of its provisions—something that was considered but not ultimately included in the CCPA, which provides for a private right of action only in the event of a data breach.  In contrast, HF 1492 joins Virginia’s CDPA by relying on regulatory enforcement and generally pursuing  an approach that is closer to Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). If passed, HF 36 would take effect on June 30, 2022, and HF 1492, also known as the Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act (“MCDPA”) on July 31, 2022.
Continue Reading Minnesota Debates New Privacy Bills

Cyber SecurityAs we stand at the beginning of 2021 and a new presidential administration, we look back on the year behind us. Hindsight is always 2020, and 2020 may be best viewed in hindsight.  We saw rapid changes in the privacy space, prompted in part by the global COVID-19 response. Infrastructure and services across multiple sectors continue to rely on data and digital platforms to function. Five prominent developments shaped the data privacy environment in 2020.
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Continue Reading Privacy Year in Review: 2020’s Hottest Topics

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On November 3, 2020, Californians passed the ballot initiative for the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) with a 56% vote.  As discussed earlier, the CPRA significantly expands upon the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) that went into effect on January 1, 2020, and whose regulations were approved on August 14, 2020 with  subsequent proposed amendment in October 2020.

Most CPRA provisions will take effect on January 1, 2023, but its new obligations will apply to any personal information collected from California residents on or after January 1, 2022, a little over one year from passage.
Continue Reading California Privacy Rights Acts Approved by California Ballot Vote

CAThe California Attorney General’s office (OAG) recently released a third set of proposed modifications to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) regulations.  This comes on the heels of the second set of modifications the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved just two months ago (see article here).  The third set of proposed modifications restores certain provisions the OAG had previously withdrawn from its draft regulations submitted to the OAL in July, as well as clarifies and adds illustrative examples to some provisions.  Overall, the modifications do not significantly alter the CCPA regulatory landscape, and if accepted, are not likely to impact businesses greatly.  Nonetheless, businesses should review the changes, which address the following topics, to confirm that they would not require any adjustment in business practice:…
Continue Reading California AG Proposes Third Amended Regulations to CCPA

CCPAOn November 3, 2020, Californians will vote on whether to approve a ballot initiative to enact a new California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). If, as current polling suggests, California voters pass the CPRA into law in November, it will significantly revise the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) of 2018, which entered into force only in January of this year.

The CPRA expands the provisions of the CCPA, removes the ability of businesses to remedy some violations before they are penalized, and creates a new agency – the California Privacy Protection Agency – to implement and enforce it. The CPRA’s substantive provisions would take effect on January 1, 2023, but its new obligations would apply to personal information collected after January 1, 2022.
Continue Reading New California Privacy Initiative Certified for November Ballot