The Californians for Consumer Privacy announced that a new ballot measure, the California Privacy Rights Act has qualified for the November 2020 ballot. The campaign submitted 931,000 signatures for verification, which were validated by California’s secretary of state.
The Californians for Consumer Privacy said the California Privacy Rights Act would:
- Allow consumers to prevent businesses from sharing sensitive information about consumer’s health, finances, race or ethnicity and precise location;
- Triple fines for collecting and selling children’s private information and requiring opt-in consent to collect data from consumers under age 16;
- Establishing a new agency to protect these rights, the California Privacy Protection Agency and imposing penalties for negligence involving theft of consumers’ emails and passwords;
- Preventing the government from weakening Californians’ privacy rights.
The title and summary for the California Privacy Rights Act state: “AMENDS CONSUMER PRIVACY LAWS. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Permits consumers to: (1) prevent businesses from sharing personal information; (2) correct inaccurate personal information; and (3) limit businesses’ use of ‘sensitive personal information’—such as precise geolocation; race; ethnicity; religion; genetic data; union membership; private communications; and certain sexual orientation, health, and biometric information. Changes criteria for which businesses must comply with these laws. Prohibits businesses’ retention of personal information for longer than reasonably necessary. Triples maximum penalties for violations concerning consumers under age 16. Establishes California Privacy Protection Agency to enforce and implement consumer privacy laws, and impose administrative fines. Requires adoption of substantive regulations. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Increased annual state costs of roughly $10 million for a new state agency to monitor compliance and enforcement of consumer privacy laws. Increased state costs, potentially reaching the low millions of dollars annually, from increased workload to DOJ and the state courts, some or all of which would be offset by penalty revenues. Unknown impact on state and local tax revenues due to economic effects resulting from new requirements on businesses to protect consumer information. (19-0021A1.)”
“California has led the nation in securing fundamental privacy rights,” said Alastair Mactaggart, founder of Californians for Consumer Privacy, in a release. “We’ve come a long way in the two years since passing the landmark California Consumer Privacy Act, but during these times of unprecedented uncertainty, we need to ensure that the laws keep pace with the ever-changing ways corporations and other entities are using our data. That’s why our campaign is going to make sure all Californians know about the new and stronger rights provided under this ballot measure, the California Privacy Rights Act, and why we need their support in November.”
“I stand with California consumers as we work to craft laws that give them back the fundamental power over their own information, an increasingly precious commodity,” said state Sen. Robert Hertzberg, California Senate Majority Leader and joint author of AB 375, the California Consumer Privacy Act. “This ballot measure is the important next step in ensuring that privacy rights are sustained now and well into the future.”