California Dreamin' Of Data Privacy

Will the state’s consumer protection act be a nightmare for brands?

- Marty Swant

The California Consumer Protection Act doesn’t go into effect until 2020, but that doesn’t mean the 10,000-word law—passed in just five days last summer—won’t be a big issue this year.

Last month, the California attorney general’s office—which is in charge of creating rules for the CCPA—began holding a series of hearings to gather feedback that will continue through February in cities across the state. Trade groups including the Association of National Advertisers and the Interactive Advertising Bureau have submitted testimony about how they think the new regulation will hinder operations. They’re also urging state lawmakers to consider changing or clarifying terms, rules and exemptions.

“Dan Jaffe, group evp for government relations at the ANA, said the law in its current form could put some brands’ rewards programs at risk because it might be hard to give equal incentives to people who opt into sharing data and those who opt out. Jaffe said requiring companies to create “massive data pools” for responding to consumers’ requests for their personal information might become tempting targets for hackers.”