How Prop 24 Embraces and Extends the California Consumer Privacy Act

A Brief History of the CCPA

As mentioned above, Prop 24 is the “Version 2” upgrade of the CCPA and is designed to provide each Californian even more privacy rights and lets you further take back control over your data.  Prop 24 and the CPRA is designed and backed by the same group — Californians for Consumer Privacy — that sponsored the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ballot measure in 2018.  That petition was signed by 629,000 Californians and qualified for the November 2018 ballot. In June 2018, Californians for Consumer Privacy negotiated with Senator Robert Hertzberg and Assemblymember Ed Chau in the California Legislature, and successfully passed the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in return for withdrawing the ballot measure.  The CCPA gives nearly 40 million people in California the strongest data privacy rights in the country. But increasingly businesses are trying to neuter the CCPA and your privacy rights through the Legislature.  Unless California voters take action, the hard‐fought rights consumers have won could be undermined by future legislation.  Rather than diluting privacy rights, California should strengthen them over time.  Furthermore, current California law lacks basic privacy rights such as the ability to let you limit the use of your sensitive personal information (e.g. religion, ethnicity, geolocation, etc.).  We as Californians significantly lag what Europeans get when it comes to basic privacy rights.  The Big Tech companies are not sitting still; we should keep pace and improve and enhance our privacy law.

Enter the CPRA!

Californians for Consumer Privacy are back with the California Privacy Rights Act, which builds upon CCPA’s achievements.  If voters approve this Prop 24 measure in November 2020, we think it will be the best consumer privacy law in the world.  Big tech companies are not sitting still; we need our privacy laws to keep pace with their expanding use of our personal data.  That is why over 930,000 of your fellow Californians signed the petition to get Prop 24 on your ballot, and you have the chance to make this into law. Here’s some of the ways that the CPRA embraces and extends the CCPA: Prop 24 further protect kids.  Prop 24 protects kids in a multitude of ways.  One critical way is that CPRA triples fines for violations of children’s privacy (e.g. $7500 for each violation involving the personal information of minor consumers).  So, if a Big Tech company is violating privacy laws regarding minors, the fines could be massive.  Money talks, and this is the best way to change behavior. Furthermore, CPRA would also require opt-in consent in order to sell personal data from consumers under the age of 16. Prop 24 further protects us from online hackers and Identity Theft.  Prop 24 and the CPRA give Californians the fundamental right to have your personal information kept safe.  Specifically, the CPRA tells businesses that if they are going to collect personal information, then they must keep it secure from theft!  Unfortunately, too many businesses just leave your information lying around in plain text, and who suffers?  You do, when your identity is stolen. Furthermore, the CPRA adds “email plus password or security question & answer” to the list of items subject to a private right of action.  Put another way, if your email and password is stolen or hacked due to the negligence of a business, the business could face massive fines, potentially owing thousands or even millions of Californians up to $750 each. Prop 24 limits Big Tech and other businesses from tracking your location.  CPRA introduces a powerful new concept covering your most sensitive personal information.  Under CCPA, you only have the right to stop the sale of your personal information.  CPRA goes much further, and lets you tell businesses not to use your most sensitive information, unless it’s to deliver you a product you are asking for. One key element of sensitive personal information is your precise geolocation—exactly where you’re standing or driving.  With CPRA by including it in the definition of your sensitive information, CPRA will let you stop a business tracking you and knowing exactly where you are at all times.

Detail Comparison

Here is a table that shows you in more detail how Prop 24 builds upon current California law to provide you even more privacy rights!