Data Dive

Broad new social media legislation (AB 587) was signed into law in September 2022. AB 587 applies to social media companies with gross revenues of over $100 million and establishes new transparency requirements. Compliance with the reporting requirements will require social media companies to track and maintain information that may not already be tracked and maintained. The California requirements go into effect on January 1, 2024. 

In August, Viacom and a number of other app developers and ad-tech companies reached a settlement with parents who had alleged that the companies were illegally selling children’s personal information for behavioral advertising. The deal involves 16 separate settlement agreements that impose limitations on the collection and use of children’s personal information and could have far-reaching implications across the mobile app industry.

Alastair Mactaggart, the real estate developer who led the push for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), is at it again. Mactaggart and his organization, Californians for Consumer Privacy, have submitted a new ballot initiative to the California Attorney General’s Office for consideration. The new initiative, titled the “California Consumer Privacy Act of 2020,” would give California voters the opportunity to vote on certain measures related to privacy on the November 2020 ballot. The measures would amend and add numerous provisions to the CCPA, already the nation’s strictest privacy law.

Data protection authorities (DPAs) in the European Union (EU) continue to scrutinize practices in the adtech sector for compliance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and local data protection and electronic marketing laws. Companies operating in this space or that make use of these services should monitor this situation closely and examine their current online advertising practices.

We attended Shoptalk 2019 for the second year in a row where we heard from industry leaders on the digital transformation affecting nearly all consumer-facing businesses, and added our perspectives on the changing legal and compliance landscape. The concepts of retail evolution, rapid innovation cycles, growing omnichannel business, increased automation and product and experiential differentiation framed this event. Leaders from many of the world’s leading businesses in retail, technology, media, direct-to-consumer, financial services, shipping and logistics, and grocery—as well as private equity firms, venture capital investors, consulting firms, business school professors and start-ups—led five tracks of substantive sessions, gave keynote addresses and presented “tabletalk” lectures.