SACRAMENTO – While the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 is centered on consumers’ right to know what information businesses collect and share online, compliance with the 2018 bill, according to Civil Justice Association of California, is likely to remain a costly detriment to businesses.
According to CJAC President and CEO Kyla Christoffersen Powell, compliance with the current iteration of the bill is costly, particularly for small businesses, but proposed amendments to the legislation have the potential to clarify the new law.
“Right now, droves of California businesses are preparing to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) enacted last year,” Powell told the Northern California Record. “Compliance is a complex and costly undertaking, particularly for small businesses.
“Because of the difficulty of complying, it’s imperative that enforcement of the new law focuses around encouraging compliance through productive means such as providing businesses with an opportunity to cure, rather than expanding lawsuits.”
As previously reported by the Northern California Record, CJAC has backed Assembly Bill 25, which clarifies the term "consumers" in the Privacy Act of 2018 and does not include employees and job applicants. AB 25 was introduced in December and is pending in Judiciary.
Powell said CJAC also supports a number of other bills that will enable compliance from businesses by removing complexity and confusion about the new Act’s implementation.
Stone Advocacy Principal and former president and CEO of CJAC Kim Stone previously told the Northern California Record that bills such as Assembly Bill 1416 – which focuses on expanding the exemptions of the CCPA by specifying obligations on businesses – are a response to the passing of the Privacy Act to prevent voter initiatives from going forward.
Compliance to California’s Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 will be mandatory as of January 2020.