Category: California Consumer Privacy Act
Win for Walmart as District Court Gives Strict Reading to CCPA
In a win for data privacy defendants, Walmart secured a ruling that favors a narrow interpretation of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). In Gardiner v. Walmart Inc. et al, 4:20-cv-04618-JSW, a Walmart customer, Lavarious Gardiner, sued the retail company under the CCPA for failing to implement and maintain reasonable and appropriate security procedures and practices to protect information he gave to Walmart to create an account on the company’s website. As a result of an alleged, undisclosed data breach, Gardiner claimed that his personal information had been subject to unauthorized exfiltration on Walmart’s website, and sold on the dark web, exposing him to purportedly ongoing risk of financial fraud and identity theft. Gardiner’s complaint also included a summary of the results of a security scan of the Walmart website, which purported to show vulnerabilities in that website. Moreover, in a somewhat unusual twist, Gardiner claimed that he had in his possession “communications with the hackers which state that the accounts they are selling are real accounts that belong to Walmart customers.” Despite the allegations in the complaint, Walmart had never disclosed any breach and the complaint did not allege when any such breach occurred. Gardiner also brought claims for negligence, breach of contract, and violations of the UCL, all of which were dismissed for failure to plead cognizable injury
New York Has More to Say About Consumer Data Privacy
As the national landscape of data privacy laws evolves, New York may be poised to follow California in passing legislation that creates new data rights for New York consumers. New York is no stranger to this field. The New York Department of Financial Services’ cybersecurity regulation was the first of its kind in the nation, aimed specifically at the banking and insurance industries. The Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security (“SHIELD”) Act continued the trend beyond the financial services industry, heightening breach disclosure requirements and imposing enhanced rules for businesses holding the personal data of New York residents. And New York’s Governor, Andrew Cuomo, recently proposed a 2021 budget bill that contemplates a comprehensive data privacy law, the New York Data Accountability and Transparency Act (“NYDAT”), which would vastly expand the scope of New York’s privacy protections, creating an East Coast analogue to California’s CCPA.
The Minted Complaint: Another Case Brought Under the CCPA’s Private Right of Action
Well before the California Attorney General’s power to enforce the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) commenced on July 1, 2020, as we have recently reported, private plaintiffs had already jumped into the fray, suing companies like Zoom and Houseparty for alleged violations of the CCPA. We noted that if one of these private lawsuits were to survive a motion to dismiss, it could lead to a substantial increase in class action litigation under the CCPA. Another putative class action under the CCPA that was filed on June 11, 2020 against Minted, Inc.—the popular online stationery, art, and home décor company—joins the growing list of private CCPA lawsuits and adds another wrinkle to this new area of law.
Privacy Suits Against Zoom and Houseparty Test the CCPA’s Private Right of Action
Over the past month, many have discovered video chat and conferencing apps such as Zoom and Houseparty, using them for both business and to keep connected to friends and family during this period of global social distancing. Increased usage of these apps has also resulted in close scrutiny of their privacy practices by the public and government authorities. Indeed, Zoom has been hit with eight class actions that were recently consolidated, while separate plaintiffs sued the owners of Houseparty. A core allegation among those suits is that, without notice or consent, these apps provided user data to third parties (e.g., Facebook). Both the Houseparty complaint and a majority of the Zoom complaints allege violations of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), making these cases among the first with the potential to test the contours of the nascent but expansive privacy law. If the CCPA claims in these suits survive, it could signal the beginning of a substantial increase in class actions claiming CCPA violations.
CCPA Update: California AG’s Modified Proposed Regulations
This is the fourth post in our series discussing the practical impact of the California Attorney General’s regulations to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). See our previous CCPA posts here.
The CCPA took effect on January 1, 2020, and already a putative class action has been filed, albeit over a data breach that allegedly occurred before the CCPA’s effective date. In addition, although the statute is now operative, its implementing regulations remain in flux. On February 7, 2020, the California Attorney General (AG) issued a notice of modification to the proposed regulations originally issued in October 2019. And on March 11, 2020, the AG released a second set of modifications. These modifications—published in a clean and redline version—contain important updates clarifying notice requirements, consumer request acceptance and response obligations, service provider responsibilities, and when discrimination related to financial incentives is permissible.
CCPA Update: Key Proposed Regulations for Business Practices for Handling Consumer Requests
As we recently reported on this blog, the California Attorney General (AG) released long-awaited draft regulations to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). This is the second installment in a series of posts discussing the regulations most relevant to companies as they determine whether they are covered under the law and how to comply. This post discusses business practices for receiving and verifying consumer requests to delete or opt-out, and for disclosure of specific information, referred to in the regulations as “requests to know.”
CCPA Update: California Attorney General Releases Proposed Regulations
On October 11, 2019, the California Attorney General released its long-anticipated Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Action and the text of its proposed regulations for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), along with an Initial Statement of Reasons for the proposed regulations. The documents are not a short read, with the proposed regulations covering 24 pages, the Notice 16 pages, and the Statement of Reasons another 47 pages.
Amendments to the California Consumer Privacy Act: Six Clarifications
As readers of the Data Security Blog will know, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) becomes operative on January 1, 2020. The CCPA is the most sweeping consumer privacy law in the United States, covering most for-profit businesses that do business in California and collect the personal information of “consumers,” meaning California residents.
A Closer Look at the CCPA’s Private Right of Action and Statutory Damages
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) has significantly altered the potential consequences of a data breach under California law by permitting California consumers to bring civil suits for statutory damages, Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.150(a)(1), and to seek statutory damages of between $100 and $750 “per consumer per incident or actual damages, whichever is greater.” Id. § 1798.150(a)(1)(A). The ability to seek statutory damages is in addition to injunctive or declaratory relief. Id. § 1798.150(a)(1)(B),(C).
Part III: Our Last Look at the CCPA’s Definition of “Personal Information”
In our third and final installment on the California Consumer Privacy Act’s (CCPA) expansive definition of “personal information,” we look at other sections of the CCPA that either limit the applicability of the law’s “personal information” definition or exclude information from coverage under the law.
Part II: A Closer Look at the CCPA’s Definition of “Personal Information”
Our three-part series on the California Consumer Privacy Act’s (CCPA) expansive definition of “personal information” is designed to help businesses identify whether they hold information covered under the law, while also highlighting the potential pitfalls in the definition as we await interpretative regulations from the California Attorney General and potential amendments from the state’s legislature. In Part I, we explored the breadth of the definition. We now turn to the law’s two explicit exclusions from the definition of “personal information.”
Part I: A Closer Look at California’s New Privacy Regime: The Definition of “Personal Information”
A Closer Look at California’s New Privacy Regime: Two Critical Definitions
Businesses covered by the recently enacted California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) are scrambling to comply with the statute, which becomes “operative” on January 1, 2020, unless that date is changed by the California legislature. As we have noted in earlier blog posts, the CCPA is the most sweeping privacy law in the U.S. and has significant implications for any business that falls within its coverage.
State Attorney General Starts Rulemaking Process for California Consumer Privacy Act
Yesterday, by e-mail and on its website, the California Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it would hold “six statewide forums to collect feedback” in advance of the rulemaking process for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The announcement did not include proposed rules or regulations, which must be adopted by July 1, 2020.
New Year’s Resolution 2019: Compliance with California’s Consumer Privacy Act
With the New Year fast approaching, so begins the one-year countdown to the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, going into effect.
California Legislature Makes Last-Minute Changes to New Data Privacy Law
As California’s legislative session came to a close late last month, the state’s lawmakers passed SB-1121, approving a series of tweaks to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 or CCPA, the far-ranging data privacy law enacted earlier this summer. The new bill now heads to the governor for consideration.
What New York Businesses Need to Know About California’s New Data Privacy Law
As the home of Facebook and other tech giants, California recently found itself in the center of a data privacy firestorm. In response to this and other controversies emanating from Silicon Valley’s technology community, California enacted a far-ranging data privacy law, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. Despite its California origins, however, the law could have significant effects on New York-based businesses as well.
California’s New Privacy Law: A Closer Look
California’s landmark digital privacy law – signed into law late last week – is the most sweeping consumer data protection law in the U.S. The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 or CCPA promises to give consumers unprecedented control over their personal information including the right to know what information companies are collecting about them and how it is used.
California Enacts Sweeping Consumer Privacy Law
California threw down the proverbial gauntlet last night and enacted a sweeping new digital privacy law aimed at giving the state’s consumers more control over their personal information.