On December 11, 2020, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra released the fourth set of proposed modifications to the regulations of the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA). This fourth set of proposed modifications is in response to comments received to the third set of modifications that were released on October 12, 2020. According to the update released with the proposed text, the changes include:

Revisions to section 999.306, subd. (b)(3), to clarify that a business selling personal information collected from consumers in the course of interacting with them offline shall inform consumers of their right to opt-out of the sale of their personal information by an offline method; and

Proposed section 999.315, subd. (f), regarding a uniform button to promote consumer awareness of the opportunity to opt-out of the sale of personal information.

The text of the proposed modifications can be found here. Probably the biggest news for the opt-out option is the proposal to include an opt-out button, which may be used in addition to posting the right to opt-out, but not in lieu of any requirement to post a “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” link. The proposed regulations state that if a business posts the “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” link, then the opt-out button shall be added to the left of the text as follows:

The proposed modifications also add language that states that submitting requests to opt-out shall be easy for consumers to execute and shall require minimal steps to allow the consumer to opt-out. Businesses are not to use confusing language for opt-out requests or to require consumers to click through or listen to reasons why they should not submit a request to opt out. Businesses may not require consumers to provide personal information that is not necessary to implement the request, nor can a business require the consumer to search or scroll through the text of a privacy policy to locate the mechanism to opt out. In short, the proposed modifications appear to strive for a simple process with minimal steps for consumers to opt out of the sale of their personal information.

The Attorney General’s Office will accept written comments on the proposed changes to the regulations until 5:00 p.m. on December 28, 2020. Comments may be sent by email to PrivacyRegulations@doj.ca.gov or by mail at the address contained in the notice of the fourth set of proposed modifications.

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