Search results for: Colorado Privacy Act

We reported earlier that at the July 16th California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) Board meeting, the Board would be considering a rulemaking package that staff prepared further the Board’s vote and direction in March.  Copies of those documents are here.  At the July 16th Board meeting the staff presented on those, and reported that it was still working on the required Standardized Regulatory Impact Assessment (SRIA) that will need to be approved by the CA Department of Finance prior to publication for public comment and the commencement of the formal rulemaking process.  The Board also debated the substance of the draft rules but did not vote on them.  The Board asked staff to make clear certain alternatives to the draft in the call for public comments, most notably if risk assessments related to processing that, results in consequential decision-making, should be for all processing or just processing using automated decision-making (ADM) technologies.  Board Member MacTaggert raised several concerns about the current drafts, including:

Continue Reading California Privacy Regs Advance But Vote on Drafts Delayed

In a final push before adjourning for the summer, state legislators across the country contemplated consumer privacy laws.  Three legislatures made it to the finish line.  One – Minnesota’s state legislature passed the Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act on May 19th as part of an appropriations bill, which was signed by Minnesota’s governor on May 24th.  Of the other two, one is pending gubernatorial action, and the other was vetoed.

The Rhode Island Data Transparency and Privacy Protection Act (RI-DTPA) was passed by the state legislature on June 13th.  Before RI-DTPA becomes law, Governor McKee must either sign, take no action or veto it.  If signed, RI-DTPA is in force on January 1, 2026, like the Indiana Consumer Data Protection Act and Kentucky Consumer Data Privacy.

We are not, however, making assumptions about RI-DTPA’s passage.  This post was originally planned to cover the Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act and the Vermont Data Privacy Act, not the RI-DTPA.  On June 13th (the same day that RI-DTPA was passed), Vermont’s Governor Phil Scott vetoed the Vermont Data Privacy Act.  In his letter to Vermont’s General Assembly, Governor Scott noted that the Vermont Data Privacy Act created “big and expensive new burdens and competitive disadvantages for the small and mid-sized businesses Vermont communities rely on.”  He also noted that the private right of action is “a national outlier, and more hostile” than any other state privacy law, notwithstanding its limited scope and sunset.  He raised the possibility of a First Amendment challenge to the Age-Appropriate Design Code (Section 6), noting that “similar legislation in California has already been [preliminarily enjoined] for likely First Amendment violations.” (See here.)  A veto override was not successful.

The RI-DTPA already faces opposition from privacy advocacy organizations claiming that RI-DTPA is too weak (see, e.g., here).  Advertising associations also reportedly oppose RI-DTPA.  Nonetheless, we have highlighted some key elements of RI-DTPA in this post so you can decide for yourself, together with answers to FAQs about the Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act (MN-CDPA) and how it is similar to and different from the other state consumer privacy laws.

Continue Reading Minnesota Makes 19: Will Rhode Island’s Privacy Law Replace Vermont’s Vetoed Privacy Law as #20?

Since its inception in 1998, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) has been the cornerstone of protecting the personal data of minors under the age of 13 in the United States. COPPA imposes various requirements, including parental consent, notice and transparency, and data minimization, among other things, on online services that are “directed to children [under 13]” and “mixed audience” online services, or those that have actual knowledge that they have collected personal data from a child [under 13] online.

Many organizations that previously did not have to worry about COPPA or COPPA-based standards as applied to state consumer privacy laws should be aware of the trend in state privacy legislation to expand restrictions and obligations beyond COPPA’s under age 13 standard, to minors that are at least 13 and under the age of 18 (“Teens”). This trend began in 2020 with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) requiring consent for “sale” of personal information of consumers at least age 13 but younger than 16 years of age  (the California Privacy Rights Act expanded that requirement to “sharing” as well). Consent must be given by the Teen or, if the consumer is under age 13, by the parent, using COPPA verification standards. Other relevant aspects regarding this trend, of which organizations should be aware, include:

Continue Reading Trending: Teens’ Data Subject to Heightened Restrictions Under Ten (and Counting?) State Privacy Laws

State legislatures across the country were busy in 2023 and so far this year passing comprehensive consumer privacy laws and creating a vexing patchwork of compliance obligations.

Legislatures in Iowa, Indiana, Tennessee, Montana, Florida, Texas, Oregon, Delaware, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska and Minnesota all enacted consumer privacy laws of their own with an additional consumer privacy law in Vermont awaiting action by the Governor. The fifteen laws passed in 2023 and 2024 join laws in California, Virginia, Colorado, Utah, and Connecticut which already are in effect. A chart at the end of this blog post notes each law’s effective date, three of which are effective at the end of this month.

While inspired by the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), the new state consumer privacy laws take materially different approaches in many ways. States also have passed more targeted privacy laws pertaining specifically to consumer health data (beyond treating it as a category of sensitive personal data), the protection of children (beyond limiting the use of personal data), AI-specific laws (not part of a comprehensive consumer data regime) and laws regulating data brokers (typically controllers that sell personal data they do not directly collect from consumers). Congress continues to consider a federal law that would mostly preempt the state consumer privacy laws, as well as other laws specific to children’s online safety with partial preemption. In the meantime, data controllers (and to a lesser degree processors) face the challenge of determining which state consumer privacy laws apply and whether to apply applicable laws based on consumer residency or to apply a national highest standard to all consumers.

The SPB privacy team has developed a comprehensive guide on state consumer privacy laws, including comparison charts on key issues to help determine which laws apply and tips for enhancing information governance. Most of the new state consumer privacy laws require controllers to conduct and retain documentation of data privacy impact or risk assessments. Minnesota’s new consumer privacy law also requires a documented privacy compliance program reasonably designed to ensure compliance and data inventories. The most recent draft of the federal privacy law mandates privacy-by-design.

Following are some highlights of the emerging ‘high water mark’ (strictest requirement) for key aspects of consumer privacy in the United States:

Continue Reading State Privacy Law Patchwork Presents Challenges

Last week was a busy one for AI regulation. The week started and ended with big news from Colorado: on Monday, Colorado’s legislature passed “Concerning Consumer Protections in Interactions with Artificial Intelligence Systems” (SB 24-205) (Colorado AI Law) and, on Friday, Governor Jared Polis (D) signed the Colorado AI Law “with reservations” according to his letter to Colorado’s legislature. Although the Colorado legislature is the first U.S. lawmaker to pass general AI legislation, Colorado’s Governor has expressly invited Congress to replace the Colorado AI Law with a national regulatory scheme before the Colorado AI Law’s February 1, 2026, effective date.

Continue Reading All Eyes on AI: Colorado Governor Throws Down the Gauntlet on AI Regulation After Colorado General Assembly Passes the Nation’s First AI Law

This week, House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA) unveiled their bipartisan, bicameral discussion draft of the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA draft).[1] Chair Rodgers’ and Chair Cantwell’s announcement of the APRA draft surprised many congressional observers after comprehensive privacy legislation stalled in 2022.

Continue Reading April’s APRA: Could Draft Privacy Legislation Blossom into Law in 2024?

The staff and board of the California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA”) have been working for nearly two years on a new set of proposed rulemaking under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act  (“CCPA”).  A year ago the current CCPA regulations were finalized, but several complex issues where reserved for further consideration and some proposals were pulled back to ease initial implementation.  Their enforcement was initially enjoined and delayed by a trial court, but a California appeals court reversed that order, including any delay on the effectiveness of future regulations.  New draft regulations were proposed by the CPPA staff and considered but not approved by the CPPA board in Q4 of 2023.  In February 2024 further revised draft regulations were released and considered on March 8 by the CCPA board, which voted 5 to 0 to move forward amendments to the existing regulations and, after a spirited debate, 3 (Urban, Le and Worthe for) to 2 (de la Torre and Mactaggert against) to also move forward with new draft regulations on data risk assessments and data driven technologies, with a direction to staff to add to the requirements for filing abridged assessments with the CPPA a discussion on what safeguards were employed to mitigate risks (with an exception for when disclosure would be a security risk).  In each case the staff was authorized to prepare the materials necessary under administrative procedures laws and regulations to publish a notice of prepared rulemaking, the publication which will be subject to a further Board vote after reviewing the rule making package.  The staff was also authorized to make further edits to the draft regulations to clarify text or conform with law.  Although the motions did not set a firm date for staff to complete that work, the discussions contemplate that it would be done by the July 2024 Board meeting at the latest.  That could result in effective regulations in Q3, though given the complexity and lack of Board consensus year-end is optimistic.

Continue Reading In Narrow Vote California Moves Next Generation Privacy Regs Forward

Hundreds of lawyers and several privacy regulators from California, Washington State, Oregon, Colorado, Connecticut, and the Federal Trade Commission gathered in Los Angeles last week for the second annual California Lawyers Association Privacy Summit (“Summit”). Among many engaging sessions on pressing topics, the panels with privacy regulators stood out discussions on enforcement priorities and administrative fines and injunctions, along with punchy and newsworthy statements – including that they are “plotting” and that considering the typical investigation presents “hundreds or thousands of violations,” potential fines are “significant.”

Perhaps even more newsworthy is that due to a California Court of Appeal order laid down as the Summit wound down on Friday, the stay in enforcement of the CCPA regulations was lifted. This happened as many companies were treating March 29, 2024, the end of the stay period, as the effective and enforcement date of regulations promulgated under the CPRA’s amendments by the California Privacy Protection Agency. The appeals order also nullifies the year delay in effectiveness of issued CCPA regulations that the trial court had required, making almost certain that CCPA regulations on risk assessments, cybersecurity assessments, and automated decision-making and profiling will be promulgated and in effect sometime this year, perhaps as early as Q2 or Q3.

Will 2024 be the year of privacy enforcement? In view of signaling from California regulators and those in other jurisdictions, and in view of several upcoming effective dates and regulatory deadlines, ongoing enforcement by regulators in California and beyond, and an impending uptick in privacy enforcement, it just might be. Stay tuned for future posts on these issues. Keep reading for more detailed takeaways regarding the Summit.

Continue Reading Potential CCPA Fines “Significant”, California AG’s Office “Plotting” and Other Takeaways From Privacy Regulators during Privacy Summit in Los Angeles

The first month of 2024 brought two new state privacy laws. On January 18, the New Hampshire legislature passed the 15th US state consumer privacy law (notably, still subject to some procedural requirements and signature by Governor Chris Sununu before it is officially law). The New Hampshire law was passed a few days after New Jersey’s new consumer privacy law (Approved P.L.2023, c.266) was signed into law on January 16. 

Both new state consumer privacy laws follow the now-familiar format, offering consumer privacy rights and requiring role-based data processing agreements, but with a few notable differences. A more detailed comparison follows.

Continue Reading New Jersey and New Hampshire Pass Consumer Privacy Laws – and 11 Other States Are Considering Similar Laws

2023 was an eventful year for privacy legislation, regulation and regulatory enforcement. The compliance landscape continues to develop and evolve rapidly, making it difficult for covered businesses to keep up with the myriad requirements. In this post, we discuss some of the year’s most interesting privacy compliance developments globally.

Continue Reading 2023 Privacy Compliance Year in Review