CCPA Regulations Finalized

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has announced that the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has approved the final regulations for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), designed to enhance the privacy rights of the state's residents.

The Act allows citizens to find out what personal data is being collected about them, access it, know whether it is sold or disclosed and to whom, say 'no' to the sale, and ask businesses to delete it. The legislation originally required Becerra (pictured) to implement regulations by July 1st, 2020, but in March the Insights Association and 33 other industry groups tried and failed to persuade him to delay enforcing it until January 2nd, 2021, because of the 'havoc' being caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

The regulations approved by OAL were drafted after a preliminary rulemaking process, which included seven public forums, four public hearings, a 45-day comment period, and two subsequent 15-day comment periods. These resulted in the submission of more than 1,000 public comments, each of which were taken into consideration when drafting the final regulations.

Commenting on the announcement, Becerra said: 'In California, privacy is an inalienable right. Californians should control who possesses their personal data and how it's used. With these rules finalized, California breaks ground and leads the nation to protect and advance data privacy. These rules guide consumers and businesses alike on how to implement the California Consumer Privacy Act. As we face a pandemic of historic proportions, it is particularly critical to be mindful of personal data security'.

Web site: www.oag.ca.gov .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.