Privacy & Cybersecurity Law Report Publishes Akin Gump Analysis of Revisions to California Consumer Privacy Act

Privacy & Cybersecurity Law Report has published the article “The Significance to Businesses of the California Legislature’s Last Minute Revisions to the 2018 California Consumer Privacy Act.” It was written by Natasha Kohne, partner and co-head of the cybersecurity, privacy and data protection practice at Akin Gump; Diana Schaffner, counsel in the firm’s litigation practice, Dario Frommer, partner in the public law and policy practice; and Jo-Ellyn Sakowitz Klein, senior counsel in the health practice.

The article, which originated as an Akin Gump client alert, examines the impact on businesses of the revised California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which was first enacted in June. The authors describe it as “the nation’s broadest privacy protection statute” that was “hastily passed” ahead of a statutory deadline.

The authors first provide an overview of the changes to the CCPA, which they describe as either “technical or grammatical revisions adopted to fix drafting errors, revise internal inconsistencies, etc. … [or] substantive revisions that change the enforcement of the CCPA itself.” The latter category includes changes, such as extending the time for the California Attorney General to adopt regulations, removing various prerequisites to a consumer pursuing a private right of action and modifying medical information exemptions to expand coverage.

The CCPA goes into effect on January 1, 2020, but it remains to be seen, the authors write, “whether the business community will continue to push for further CCPA amendments when the Legislature reconvenes in January 2019.” Some estimates, they say, indicate that as many as 500,000 companies may fall under the statute. As a result, the authors advise getting ahead of these issues now, as it may provide businesses “with the best means of driving policy development in an area that is sure to affect business practices and costs for years to come.”

To read the full article, please click here.