• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

Alston & Bird Privacy, Cyber & Data Strategy Blog

  • Home
  • Services
  • Events
  • Contacts

California Privacy Ballot Initiative Moves Forward: Act Would Amend California Constitution to Set Standards for Collection and Protection of Personally Identifying Information, including Financial and/or Health Information

October 4, 2013 By Privacy, Cyber & Data Strategy Team

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen has allowed signature collection to commence for a ballot initiative, named the Personal Privacy Protection Act, that could drastically alter the California privacy regime. The initiative, led by former state Senator Steve Peace and retired attorney Michael Thorsnes, seeks to amend the California Constitution to define personally identifiable information as “any information which can be used to distinguish or trace a natural person’s identity which is linked or linkable to a specific natural person” but excludes information that is publicly available from government records. The definition of personally identifying information would also explicitly include “financial and/or health information.”

In addition to defining personally identifiable information, the initiative would create a presumption that such information is confidential and would establish a presumption of harm if shared without a consumer’s express consent, unless it was disclosed for a compelling interest and there was no reasonable alternative for accomplishing that interest.

To reach the November 2014 ballot, initiative supporters would have to gather 807,615 signatures of registered voters by February 24, 2014. If approved by California voters, it would take effect January 1, 2016.

Written by Nick Stamos, Associate, Technology and Privacy Group, and Claire Lucy Readhead, Associate, Privacy & Data Security | Alston & Bird LLP

Filed Under: Behavioral Advertising, Financial Privacy, Health Privacy, Legislation, Online Privacy, Privacy, Privacy Litigation Tagged With: Privacy Class Actions, US State Law

Primary Sidebar

This blog is a service of Alston & Bird’s Privacy, Cyber & Data Strategy team and focuses on key data privacy and data security issues.


Receive email notifications when new posts are added.

Receive email notifications when new posts are added.


THE DIGITAL DOWNLOAD
Click here to see the editions

PRIVACY & CYBER EVENTS
Click here to see upcoming and past events

PRIVACY & CYBER MAILINGS
Click here to sign up

@ALSTONPRIVACY
Click here to follow us on Twitter

Secondary Sidebar

Categories

Recent Posts

  • DOJ Issues New Policy on CFAA Prosecutions
  • EDPB Issues Draft Guidelines on the Calculation of Administrative Fines
  • The California Privacy Protection Agency Solicits Public Input on Forthcoming Privacy Regulations
  • U.S. Department of Commerce Announces the Establishment of a Global CBPR Forum
  • Colorado Issues Pre-Rulemaking Considerations for the Colorado Privacy Act
Copyright © 2022 · Alston & Bird · All Rights Reserved. Privacy.