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Earlier this month, the Oregon state legislature introduced Senate Bill (SB) 619, “relating to protections for the personal data of consumers.”  The bill has since been referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and the Joint Committee on Ways and Means.  Of course, Oregon would not be the first state to enact general, or omnibus, privacy legislation; to date, five states (California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, and Utah) have done so, with the first two operative as of today.  Likewise, Oregon is not the only state to introduce new omnibus privacy legislation this month.  The introduction of this bill (and other general state privacy legislation) remains significant because the prospect for omnibus federal privacy legislation (in the near term) fizzled out when the 117th Congress adjourned.   

No bill exists in a vacuum.  Structurally, SB 619 generally follows the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), as do the laws enacted by Colorado, Connecticut, and Utah. 

SB 619 is only 17 pages long, not as slim as the VCDPA (8 pages), but not as bulky as the California Consumer Privacy Act (59 pages).  Unlike the CCPA, SB 619 does not reference any implementing regulations; however, implementing regulations could be added.

As with any omnibus state privacy bill, the proposed legislation raises some key questions:…

Continue Reading A New Consumer Data Protection Bill in Oregon: A Summary of SB 619

If you manage a company that collects and otherwise processes personal data (which is just about every company, these days), you may need to protect your own pocketbook.  As governments across the globe continue to enact and enforce data privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity laws, data becomes more readily available, and the volume of incidents…

It’s a great time to be a privacy attorney.  On October 17, 2022, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) released the next draft of the regulations under the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (CPRA) as well as a document explaining the proposed modifications.  Two days of public hearings were recently held on October 21-22…

March 2020 will long be remembered as the month and year of en masse shutdowns.  But the pandemic has done little if anything to slow new cybersecurity and data privacy laws.  As highlighted below, regulations for one have been submitted (CA), another has gone into effect (NY), and yet another has been proposed (CA).

California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) Gets Confirmed by State Attorney General

After nine months, a lot of public input, and three proposed drafts, the regulations for enforcement of the CCPA have been submitted for approval.  The final text of the regulations demonstrates how granular enforcement could be.  Here are five examples:

  1.  A business’s required privacy policy must include the date it was last updated.
  2. A business must provide at least two methods for consumers to send requests for deletion of their information.
  3. A service provider can retain, use, or disclose information in certain circumstances, such as to detect security incidents even after a deletion request.
  4. A business must confirm within 10 days that it has received a request to know what it has collected from consumers.
  5. A business must have a documented policy for verifying the identity of a person making a request related to their personal information.

…
Continue Reading Coast to Coast and Back Again – Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Rules

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, any California consumer whose personal information is compromised “as a result of the business’ violation of the duty to implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices … may institute a civil action.”[1]

Consumers can initiate this private right of action right now, whereas other consumer rights can only be enforced by the Attorney General beginning in July.[2]

Why This Matters

Most civil actions filed against companies during the last decade were dismissed. Why? Consumers were unable to demonstrate a suitable harm. Sure, cybersecurity incidents are a hassle for consumers to deal with, but that alone was not enough. Recently, however, courts have said “the hassle” is enough, at least for cases to proceed past their initial stages. This has led to a steady rise in both the number of cases that are settled and their dollar amounts.

Complicating things further, under the CCPA proving harm doesn’t necessarily matter. If personal information is compromised because of a failure to implement and maintain reasonable security, the CCPA quantifies harm to be “not less than one hundred dollars ($100) and not greater than seven hundred and fifty ($750) per consumer per incident” or an amount higher if proven.[3] What matters is whether your security is reasonable.

Google’s search engine defines reasonable as “as much is appropriate or fair.” For those who reminisce about how they spent three years in law school learning the many ways “reasonable” can be interpreted, the CCPA may trigger déjà vu; neither the CCPA nor its proposed regulations defines “reasonable security.” But reliable guidance is available.
Continue Reading CCPA Is Here – Is Your Security “Reasonable”?

On January 1, 2020, if your company sells goods or services to California consumers and meets certain criteria,[1] the agreements you have with companies that handle personal information on your behalf should be analyzed and, if necessary, updated just as your privacy notices should be updated.[2]

Examples of companies that handle personal information on a company’s behalf include marketing companies, managed security service providers (MSSP), and software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers such as payment processing, document and email management, and customer analytics companies.

Why this Matters

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), companies that handle consumer information on behalf of a company are “service providers.”[3] The CCPA requires that a company enter into an agreement with a service provider that

prohibits the entity receiving the information from retaining, using, or disclosing the personal information for any purpose other than for the specific purpose of performing the services specified in the contract for the business … [4]

This is important because the CCPA exempts a company for any violation of the CCPA if its service providers have executed an agreement and they, not the company providing the personal information, violates any of the rights given to California consumers under the CCPA.[5]…
Continue Reading CCPA is Here – Are Your Agreements Ready?

Last year towards the end of May, a barrage of emails and pop-ups informed online users about how companies use cookies – small bits of software that track website activity – in accordance with a requirement under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation.

On January 1, 2020, many companies will inform consumers about updates to their privacy notices – agreements between companies and their consumers about how personal information is processed – in accordance with a requirement under the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”).

Why this Matters

A privacy notice (aka privacy policy or privacy statement) is typically the first place a company explains its practices for handling the personal information it collects.  Privacy notices have received considerable attention this year, not all of it positive.  You do not have to read all of the New York Times article, “We Read 150 Privacy Policies. They Were an Incomprehensible Disaster,” to know what it concluded.[1]  Similarly, an article titled “Are Organizations Ready for New Privacy Regulations?” summarizes the Online Trust Alliance’s analysis of 1,200 privacy statements and its view that many of these privacy notices could result in penalties for failing to follow new laws such as the CCPA.[2]  In addition, privacy notices have been the subject of litigation in cases asserting that the sale of customer information to non-affiliated entities for marketing purposes,[3] and the transfer of customer data in a merger, asset sale, or sale of customer information, were all improper because they violated companies’ privacy notices.[4]…
Continue Reading CCPA is Here – Is Your Privacy Notice Ready?

The Internet Society’s Online Trust Alliance (OTA) released a report this week that measured 1200 U.S.-based organizations’ readiness for three major global privacy regulations: the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union,  the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States that goes into effect January 1, 2020, and the Personal Information…

Does your business collect personal information from residents in California? Does it monitor user activity on its website? If so, there is a good chance it will need to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), which takes effect January 1, 2020.

Following the European Union’s implementation of GDPR, California adopted the CCPA, which…

This past Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee held another hearing on consumer data privacy, this time giving voice to prominent privacy advocates. Previous testimony in September from leading technology businesses focused on concerns with the complexity of having to comply with a patchwork of different state privacy regulations, broad definitions of “personal information” in the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and a desire to see Federal legislation enacted that would preempt state laws and create a single, unified US privacy law.

While a national privacy law would simplify compliance, in Wednesday’s hearing Nuala O’Connor, the President and CEO of the Center for Democracy & Technology, cautioned the committee that the “price of preemption would be very, very high”, and Laura Moy, Executive Director and Adjunct Professor of Law at the  Georgetown Law Center on Privacy & Technology, laid out in her written testimony six strong recommendations that we should expect to see in any proposed national standard:…
Continue Reading The Senate Commerce Committee held a second hearing on consumer data privacy, this time with privacy advocates

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Contracts, laws and regulations require privacy compliance, and good business practices demand it. This blog is designed to inform our clients and readers about developing privacy issues and regulatory updates, and provide alerts on cyber security stories and data breaches that impact various data privacy and security requirements.