California

Governor Jerry Brown Signs Amendment to the California Consumer Privacy Act

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On September 23, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 1121, the amendment to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).  SB 1121 attempts to clean up some drafting errors and ambiguities in the original legislation (AB 375), but it also effectively reduces the procedural obstacles to the CCPA’s private right of action by removing the requirement that a plaintiff first notify the Attorney General before filing a lawsuit pursuant to the CCPA, which would have provided the Attorney General the opportunity to order a plaintiff not to proceed.  For a more in-depth analysis of the private right of […] Read more

An Update on the California Consumer Privacy Act and Its Private Right of Action

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While it remains to be seen what the final text of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) looks like when it is ultimately implemented on January 1, 2020, at present it seems likely that businesses and employers can expect an influx of lawsuits from individual consumers proceeding under the CCPA’s private right of action.  Under the current version of the CCPA, the Act provides a private right of action for consumers whose personal information “is subject to an unauthorized access and exfiltration, theft, or disclosure as a result of the business’ violation of the duty to implement and […] Read more

California Legislature Amends CCPA

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Last Friday, the California Senate and Assembly passed SB-1121, amending the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) as enacted in June. We previously issued an advisory following the June enactment, and will host a webinar discussing the law (as now amended) on September 12. This blog post highlights some of the key amendments to the CCPA. SB-1121 amends the CCPA as follows: Exemptions for Health Providers. The bill clarifies that the CCPA does not apply to protected health information (“PHI”) or medical information governed by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability […] Read more

Alston & Bird Hosts Sept. 12 Webinar on California Consumer Privacy Act

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Save the date! On Sept. 12, 1 – 2 PM ET, Alston & Bird will host a webinar to analyze the new California Consumer Privacy Act. (You can read our prior advisory.) The California Consumer Privacy Act has been compared to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation due to its creation of important new privacy rights likely to require significant compliance activity by many companies. Partners Jim Harvey, David Keating, and Senior Counsel Peter Swire will lead discussion of this comprehensive new legislation currently slated to enter into force in less than 18 months.   Registration [...] Read more

Landmark New Privacy Law in California to Challenge Businesses Nationwide

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Following our June 4 and July 2, 2018 blog posts tracking California's November 2018 ballot measure turned hastily enacted new California privacy law titled The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA), Alston & Bird's Privacy & Data Security Group released a more detailed "first look" review of California’s sweeping new law.  The advisory provides an overview of the new law, which establishes an array of privacy rights for state residents and worries for businesses nationwide, and concludes with key initial takeaways for business. Read the advisory here. [...] Read more

California Approves the California Consumer Privacy Act in Response to Consumer Privacy Ballot Initiative

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As discussed in this blog’s June 4, 2018 blog post, a group called Californians for Consumer Privacy gathered enough signatures for a new measure called the Consumer Right to Privacy Act to qualify for the November 2018 ballot.  With momentum building for passage of that ballot measure, various stakeholders met with California legislators to devise a bill that could be passed in place of the measure (and to the satisfaction of the measure’s backers).  The legislature and governor had until last Thursday, June 28 – the deadline for the measure’s backers to remove it from the November’s [...] Read more

Momentum Building for California’s Consumer Right to Privacy Act Ballot Initiative

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In early May, a group called Californians for Consumer Privacy gathered enough signatures for the Consumer Right to Privacy Act (CRPA) to qualify for the November 2018 ballot. The ballot initiative builds on existing California laws directed at protecting the privacy of California consumers’ personal information, including the Shine the Light law (Civil Code §1798.83) and the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA, Business & Professions Code §§22575-22579).    The CRPA sets forth a statutory framework that: 1) gives consumers the right to know what categories of personal [...] Read more