By Angelica A. Zabanal
When the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) was passed last year, it was generally acknowledged that the CCPA would need to be clarified prior to its January 1, 2020, implementation. A variety of CCPA amendments are now one step closer to full passage.
Last month, the California Senate Judiciary Committee passed seven amendment bills to the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). The bills are now headed to the Committee on Appropriations for a vote. Any bills amended by the Senate will need to return to the Assembly for a vote and a possible reconciliation. Lawmakers have until September 13, 2019 to vote on these CCPA amendments, which are summarized in their current form below:
- B. 25 (regarding Employee Exception): Amends the CCPA so that it excludes the collection of personal information (“PI”) from job applicants, employees, business owners, directors, officers, medical staff, or contractors, who would not be considered as “consumers” under the CCPA. Now amended to weaken the employee exception with a sunset exemption on January 1, 2021 and negating the exemption as it pertains to the CCPA’s notice and data breach liability provisions;
- B. 846 (regarding Customer Loyalty Programs): Excludes application of certain prohibitions in the CCPA to loyalty or rewards programs. Now amended to prohibit a business from selling consumer PI that was collected as part of a loyalty, reward, discount, premium features, or club card program;
- B. 1202 (regarding Data Brokers): Requires data brokers to register with the California Attorney General. Now amended to exclude language that would have provided consumers the right to opt-out of the sale of their personal information by data brokers;
- B. 1564 (regarding Disclosure Methods): Requires businesses to provide consumers with two methods for the submission of privacy requests, including a toll-free telephone number at a minimum. Excludes smaller online companies from the toll-free number and allows these companies to provide an email address for submitting privacy requests;
- B. 1146 (regarding Warranty and Vehicle Repairs): Exempts vehicle information retained or shared for purposes of a warranty or recall-related vehicle repair. Now amended to provide a clearer description of vehicle recalls;
- B. 874 (regarding “Publicly Available” Information): Expands definition of “publicly available” to include information that is lawfully made available from federal, state, or local government records. Amends definition of “personal information” to exclude de-identified or aggregate consumer information. (Approved by the Judiciary Committee without amendments);
- B. 1355 (regarding Opt-In Clarification): Exempts de-identified or aggregate consumer information from the definition of PI. Also clarifies that consumers over 13 years of age but younger than 16 years of age are required to opt in. Furthermore, parents need to authorize consent only for consumers under 13 years of age. (Approved by the Judiciary Committee without amendments.)
Stay tuned for more updates from Duane Morris LLP regarding the advancement of these CCPA amendments and join us for our CCPA webinar series.
