As California’s newly created privacy enforcement agency continues rule making activities for the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), concerns persist about the impact of removing a 30-day window to cure alleged non-compliance.
That reprieve had been in a provision in the California Consumer Privacy Rights Act (CCPA) but is not part of the CPRA.
The change suggests a "gotcha" as opposed to a welcoming attitude toward businesses and innovation in California, John Kabateck, California state director with the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), told the Northern California Record.
“That 30-day window in fact would have given businesses a chance to comply,” Kabateck said. “Instead, this gotcha-enforcement mentality raises the risk of penalties.”
The public has until Nov. 8 to give input on the new CPRA regulations, but the final authority rests with the new California Privacy Protection Agency.
“And they will be establishing new regulations that they can use to go after businesses – it’s raising the risks, instead of helping them to comply,” Kabateck said. “And one would think in the Covid atmosphere, we would be doing everything we could to help small businesses that are being accosted by every rule and regulation in the book and new ones almost on a daily basis.”
Disinvestment has been rising in California as more companies leave the state, according to a July report by the Hoover Institution and Spectrum Solutions.
“This disinvestment affects our local small business economy, not just today but over the long haul,” Kabateck said.
Compounding that concern is the estimated cost of privacy law compliance, which even for small businesses with fewer than 20 employees could be $50,000 annually.
California needs a new dynamic that supports job creators and doesn’t penalize small business without due process, Kabateck said.
“With greater compliance comes increased tax revenue that supports important social programs, that supports small businesses, and helps our overall business climate,” Kabateck said, adding that the state also needs an economic plan, not just a state budget, but a new long-term strategy to keep California business competitive on a global scale.
“A more collaborative spirit, fostering partnership between business and government leaders, will help our position as the global leader of the innovation economy,” Kabateck said.