SACRAMENTO, CA — Today, author of The New York Times bestseller “Zucked: Waking Up To The Facebook Catastrophe” and Silicon Valley venture capitalist Roger McNamee wrote an opinion in the San Diego Union Tribune arguing Prop 24 would strengthen consumer privacy laws in California.
McNamee on Prop 24:
“Proposition 24 plugs many holes in CCPA. It provides the right to prevent the collection of unnecessary data, restrictions on transfers of personal data, penalties for the loss of email addresses due to negligence, the right to correct your data, an opt-out of the use of precise geolocation and other highly sensitive information like health, race and sexual orientation, new standards for high-risk processors of data and transparency around automated decision-making. Collectively, the many new benefits of Proposition 24 do not go as far as I think society must go in reining in the giant personal data aggregation industry, but that is not a reasonable argument against passage. In a world where microtargeting is being used to undermine the nation’s pandemic response, to suppress votes in the presidential election, to lure consumers into online groups promoting conspiracy theories and to spread hate, we should all embrace Proposition 24 for what it is: a timely step forward in consumer protection.”
“Privacy regulations alone will not be enough to fix what is wrong with internet platforms — we require safety regulations and antitrust intervention, as well — but they are a necessary part of the solution. Proposition 24 is the essential complement that delivers most of what CCPA originally promised. Please join me in voting yes on Proposition 24 to strengthen consumer privacy laws in California.”
McNamee on the deceptive opposition:
“Opponents of Proposition 24 include some of the world’s largest data brokers, such as the multibillion-dollar LiveRamp Holdings, formerly Acxiom Corp., which profits from the status quo, and free-speech organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union, whose objectivity may be impaired by funding from internet platforms. After much study, I now believe that Proposition 24 is the best next step towards comprehensive protections. With that notion in mind, the initiative allows for amendments by a majority of both houses of the state Legislature, so long as those amendments do not undermine consumer privacy.”
The Full Yes on Proposition 24 Editorial
Read the full San Diego Union Tribune opinion here.
The Yes on Prop 24 campaign is proud to have the endorsement of former Presidential candidate Andrew Yang, Los Angeles Times editorial board, Congressman Ro Khanna, California State Controller Betty Yee, Common Sense Media, Consumer Watchdog, AFSCME California, the NAACP of California, California Professional Firefighters, California State Building and Construction Trades Council, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 21 (Bay Area), UA Local 38 Plumbers and Pipefitters, California State Senators Ben Allen, Bill Dodd, Lena Gonzalez, Connie Leyva, Bill Monning, Nancy Skinner, Robert Hertzberg, and Scott Wiener, John Burton, Former Chair of the California Democratic Party, Alex Rooker and Daraka Larimore Hall, Vice Chairs of the California Democratic Party, Jenny Bach, Secretary of the California Democratic Party, Dr. Lisa Strohman, JD, PhD, and more.
About Prop 24 and the California Privacy Rights Act
The California Privacy Rights Act would:
- Protect your most personal information, by allowing you to prevent businesses from using or sharing sensitive information about your health, finances, race, ethnicity, and precise location;
- Safeguard young people, TRIPLING FINES for violations involving children’s information;
- Put new limits on companies’ collection and use of our personal information;
- Establish an enforcement arm—the California Privacy Protection Agency—to defend these rights and hold companies accountable, and extend enforcement including IMPOSING PENALTIES FOR NEGLIGENCE resulting in theft of consumers’ emails and passwords;
- MAKE IT MUCH HARDER TO WEAKEN PRIVACY in California in the future, by preventing special interests and politicians from undermining Californians’ privacy rights, while allowing the Legislature to amend the law to further the primary goal of strengthening consumer privacy to better protect you and your children, such as opt-in for use of data, further protections for uniquely vulnerable minors, and greater power for individuals to hold violators accountable.
Recent polling by Goodwin Simon Strategic Research (July 27-31) shows that Californians overwhelmingly support Prop 24, as detailed in the November voter guide, with over 81% of likely California voters saying they will support the measure.
About Californians for Consumer Privacy
Californians for Consumer Privacy is the same group that authored the first-in-the-nation California Consumer Privacy Act, which was passed unanimously by the California State Legislature and signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown. Now the group is backing Prop 24, the California Privacy Rights Act on the 2020 ballot, to expand and enshrine privacy rights for all Californians.
