CCPA Provides New Personal Information Privacy Rights to Consumers

The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) adds Civil Code sections 1798.100-1798.199, providing consumers with new rights regarding their personal information that is collected by businesses and creating disclosure obligations and potential penalties for businesses collecting, using, sharing, or selling that information. For these purposes, the Act defines a “consumer” as any natural person who is a California resident. The Act also includes a limited private right of action. A business that violates the CCPA may be subject to an injunction and civil penalties of up to $2500 per violation or $7500 per intentional violation. The California Attorney General is responsible for enforcing the CCPA, although amendments made to it in September 2018 delay enforcement until July 1, 2020, or six months after the Attorney General publishes implementing regulations, whichever is earlier. 

New Provisions Added to the California Arbitration Act: SB 707

Adds several new provisions to the California Arbitration Act (Code Civ. Proc.,  §§ 1280-1294.2) generally concerning the enforceability of arbitration clauses in employment and consumer contracts. The legislature found that, once an arbitration proceeding had been initiated by an employee or consumer, some companies had been engaging in an abusive strategy by refusing to pay arbitration fees when due, thus suspending the arbitration proceeding and leaving the employee or consumer in legal limbo, unable to have their dispute with the company resolved. The legislature found that this strategy hindered efficient dispute resolution, contravened public policy, and was particularly unfair when the company that was now failing or refusing to pay the fees was the same party that imposed the obligation to arbitrate disputes on the employee or consumer in the first place.

Under SB 707, if a company fails to pay the fees required either to commence or to continue an arbitration proceeding within 30 days of the date the fees are due, the company is deemed to be in material breach of the arbitration agreement and waives its right to compel arbitration. Further, the employee or consumer gains the right to withdraw from the arbitration and proceed in court, as well as additional remedies. SB 707 also requires arbitration service providers to collect and publish specified information concerning arbitration proceedings, including demographic data on the ethnicity, race, disability, veteran status, gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation of the arbitrators (as self-reported).

Biometric Data Added to Breach of Security Disclosure Requirement: AB 1130

Amends Civil Code section 1798.29 to add biometric data to the requirement that California businesses that own or license computerized data that includes personal information disclose a breach of the security of the system following its discovery.

Attorneys Added to Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: SB 187

Amends the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to no longer define “debt collector” to exclude an attorney or counselor at law.

AB 1355: Exemptions to California’s New Consumer Privacy Act

Includes exemptions to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) for 1) most employee information, 2) information obtained in business-to-business interactions, 3) personal information in credit reports and other data covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 4) personal information lawfully available from government records, and 5) deidentified or aggregate consumer information. Also provides that only personal information that is “reasonably” capable of being associated with a consumer or household is now subject to the CCPA. 

Data Broker Registry Created: AB 1202

Creates a data broker registry and requires data brokers to register annually with the California Attorney General. A “data broker” is defined as a business that collects and sells to third parties the personal information of a consumer with which the business does not have a direct relationship. This includes sales for nonmonetary consideration.