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Consumer Privacy

Privacy Groups Comment on CA AG Privacy Regs

California’s statewide privacy coalition weighed in on the regulatory plans for the California Attorney General to administer and enforce the California Consumer Privacy Act.

The verdict? Pretty good job by Becerra’s office, but a few things can always be better. Like what?

*Clamping down on targeted advertising. Transfers of data for the purpose of targeted advertising are “sales”, even if the adtech industry wants to pretend they aren’t.

* Watch out for “risk to security” loopholes. CCPA already provides exceptions for security issues. They don’t need to be broadened any more.

*Limit pay for privacy. Dividing customers by “group” exacerbates the possibility of discrimination by group characteristics. Privacy harms manifest, like other kinds of discrimination, along societal divides. Privacy protections shouldn’t replicate existing discriminatory patterns.

*Data brokers are not service providers. The AG should not conflate the data exchange business with legitimate service providers. Not the same thing.

Accountability and Representation, Consumer Privacy

US Senate Consumer Privacy Bills

Multiple consumer privacy bills have been emerging from the federal government lately, mostly in response to state efforts like CCPA.

Here’s a letter from privacy groups, including Media Alliance, about the batch from the US Senate including COPRA from Senator Maria Cantwell D-WA), USCDPA from Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) and the Browser Act from Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).

Unsurprisingly, Cantwell’s bill comes the closest to a federal data privacy bill that would actually protect consumers.