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Kyle Fath

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As many of our readers know, keeping up with new developments in the privacy landscape is sometimes like drinking from a firehose. With respect to privacy enforcement, particularly in California and Colorado, the hose was turned on June 30th and has been running all summer long. This barrage of information has left unanswered questions for many. What does the delay in enforcement of the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) (together, CCPA) regulations really mean? What am I required to comply with as of today? What are regulators already focusing on in their privacy enforcement efforts this summer?…

Continue Reading Red Hot Enforcement Summer: No Vacation for California and Colorado Privacy Regulators

In 2020, when the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) came into effect, the privacy landscape in the US changed forever. Fast forward three years, we now have close to a dozen states that have passed consumer privacy laws, with the second generation of consumer privacy laws giving particular attention to sensitive data. In particular, there is an emerging trend, in both new legislation and enforcement of existing privacy and consumer protection regimes, towards a focus on the collection, use, and sharing or selling of health-related personal information, specifically information that is outside the scope of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).[1] The effect is a restriction on what publishers, advertisers, and other commercial enterprises can do with consumer health information, often broadly defined to include any past, present or future health status or inference regardless of sensitivity (e.g., acne or a headache). These developments include:…
Continue Reading Health (and Health-ish) Data and Advertising Under Scrutiny

As of July 1, four states’ privacy laws will be effective and enforceable – the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (CPRA) (collectively, CCPA), effective since January 1, becomes enforceable on that date; the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA) has been effective and enforceable since January 1; and, on July 1, the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) and Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA) are both effective and enforceable.

There are a number of compliance obligations that overlap among these laws where prior compliance efforts for the original CCPA in 2020, and in relation to its updates for January 1 of this year, will suffice for compliance with the other, non-California laws. This said, Colorado’s regulations, promulgated on March 15, 2023, materially deviate from the CCPA in a number of consequential areas in a way that likely requires companies to revisit their January 2023 privacy notices and practices. Now is also a good time to address CPRA, CPA, CTDPA and VCDPA compliance posture generally. While some businesses plan to wait until their end-of-year review and update process, when they can also assess the many additional state laws that have or will pass this year, delaying compliance until then risks enforcement actions, particularly by California and Colorado regulators (interestingly, Connecticut’s Attorney General recently released an FAQ).

This top-level summary of key considerations outlines the issues we are finding that clients have often overlooked in their January 2023 updates.
Continue Reading Are You July-1-READY? 2023 Privacy Laws and Regulations Call for Revisiting Your 2022 End-of-Year Compliance Efforts

On May 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) unanimously adopted its Policy Statement on Biometric Information and Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (“Policy Statement”), addressing the increasing use of consumers’ biometric information and the marketing of technologies that use or claim to use it—regarding which the FTC raises significant concerns. In the areas of privacy, data security, and the potential for bias and discrimination. In addition, the Policy Statement also provides a detailed discussion of the established legal requirements applicable to the use of biometrics, particularly those relating to Section 5 of the FTC Act, and lists examples of the practices the agency will scrutinize in determining whether companies’ use of biometric technologies run afoul of Section 5.
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Continue Reading FTC’s New Policy Statement on Biometric Information Provides Clear Warning to Companies on Increased Scrutiny of Facial Recognition & Related Biometrics Practices

Today, Governor Jay Inslee signed into law the My Health My Data Act (SB 1155) (the “Act” or “MHMD”), a first-of-its-kind consumer health data law. Passage of the Act was, in part, a direct response by Washington state lawmakers to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org. overturning Roe v. Wade. Recognizing that the nation’s federal health law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), has blind spots in protecting health-related information collected outside of contexts involving HIPAA covered entities (e.g., healthcare institutions), the legislature in passing MHMD sought to “close the gap” in privacy protections for health data that falls outside the scope HIPAA, including information related to reproductive health and gender-affirming care.
Continue Reading Governor Inslee Signs Washington My Health My Data Act Into Law: First-of-Its-Kind Consumer Health Data Law, Explained

On April 19th, New York’s Attorney General, Letitia James, released a document titled, “Protecting consumer’s personal information: Tips for businesses to keep data safe and secure” (the “guide”), a resource to help businesses adopt effective data security measures. It draws on the Office of the Attorney General’s (“OAG”) experience investigating and prosecuting cybersecurity breaches,…

On April 13, 2023, the Indiana legislature passed Senate Bill 5 (“SB 5”)—more commonly referred to as the Indiana Consumer Data Privacy Act or “Indiana CDPA”—sending the legislation to Governor Eric Holcomb’s desk for signature. Governor Holcomb has until Thursday, April 20 to act on the bill. The Indiana CDPA will become law either if the governor signs the bill or takes no action before the April 20 deadline.
Continue Reading Follow the Leader: Indiana Becomes Latest State to Enact Consumer Privacy Statute

On March 15, 2023, after five public input sessions, a rulemaking hearing, and over 130 written comments, the Colorado Privacy Act (“CPA”) rules were officially finalized when the Colorado Attorney General’s Office completed its review and submitted them to the Secretary of State. The final rules will be published later this month and go into effect on the same day as the statute, July 1, 2023.
Continue Reading Colorado Privacy Act Rules Finalized; To Be in Effect July 1

Earlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”) and Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) announced that they had issued a request for information (“RFI”) seeking public comment on “background screening issues affecting individuals who seek rental housing in the United States, including how the use of criminal and eviction records and algorithms affect tenant screening decisions and may be driving discriminatory outcomes.”  The deadline for submitting comments in response to the RFI is May 30, 2023.
Continue Reading CFPB and FTC to Scrutinize Tenant Screening Practices

Part 1 of How to Approach DPAs in view of Final CCPA Regs: A Series

This is the first in our series of blog posts on top considerations for approaching data processing terms required under the state privacy laws that have, or will, come into effect this year, namely the California Consumer Privacy Act, as…