CCPA

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

This year has widened the landscape of consumer privacy protections, with dozens of comprehensive privacy bills moving through state legislatures and becoming enacted. So far in 2023, Iowa’s Act Relating to Consumer Data Protection (“Iowa Privacy Law”) and Indiana’s Consumer Data Protection Act (“ICDPA”) were signed into law. These two laws join the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (“VCDPA”), California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”), Colorado Privacy Rights Act (“CPA”), Connecticut’s Public Act No. 22-15 (“CTPA”), and Utah Consumer Privacy Act (“UCPA”) in the state comprehensive consumer privacy law framework. The Iowa Privacy Law becomes effective on January 1, 2025, and the ICDPA becomes effective on July 1, 2026. The VCDPA and CPRA (amending the California Consumer Privacy Act or “CCPA”) went into effect on January 1, 2023, while the CPA and CTPA go into effect on July 1, 2023. The UCPA will go into effect December 31, 2023.
Continue Reading Data Protection Impact Assessments: Are You Ready?

In case you missed it, below are recent posts from Privacy World covering the latest developments on data privacy, security and innovation. Please reach out to the authors if you are interested in additional information.

Data Retention and Minimization, The Elephant in the Room | Privacy World

Orders to Progress Complaints – No Backdoor Appeal…

On March 29, 2023, the California Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved the regulations implementing the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The regulations were approved by the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) during its February 3rd meeting (see our report here) and filed with the OAL on February 14, 2023. The regulations are…

On January 1st of this year, the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (“VCDPA”) and amendments to the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) went into effect. Later this year, the Colorado Privacy Act (“CPA”), Connecticut’s Public Act No. 22-15 (known as the “Connecticut Privacy Act” or “CTPA”), and the Utah Consumer Privacy Act (“UCPA”) will go into effect as well. Aside from the UCPA, these laws will obligate covered entities to document and assess certain processing activities in formal data protection assessments, which will be available to regulators. The purpose is to require companies to look critically at high-risk data processing activities and avoid unjustifiable risks and negative impacts on data subjects. Assessments can also serve the purpose of maintaining current data inventories and retention schedules and ensuring that processing is not inconsistent with the notified purposes at the time of collection.
Continue Reading 2023 State Privacy Laws and Regulations Bring Extensive Data Protection Assessment Requirements

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

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…

Within the next two weeks, California Privacy Protection Agency (“Agency”) staff will prepare and submit a document package to the Office of Administrative Law (“OAL”) that includes the final text of the CPRA regulations along with the Final Statement of Reasons and responses to all public comments. Once received, the OAL will have 30 business days to review, recommend modifications, and ultimately approve or reject the package.
Continue Reading CPPA Board Votes to Send Final CPRA Regs to the Office of Administrative Law