The draft of the Official Voter Information Guide for California’s November 3, 2020 General Election has been released for public display and examination before publication and distribution to voters. Included with this release are the relevant documents pertaining to Proposition 24 (California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 or CPRA). The examination period runs from July 12, 2020 through August 10, 2020.
Information, including that which relates to Proposition 24, can be found on the California Secretary of State website here.
Within the displayed materials specific to Proposition 24 up for review during the examination period are the following:
For a discussion about certain specifics of the CPRA, see Troutman Pepper’s article available here.
Legislative Analysis. Besides highlighting some of the distinctions between the CPRA and the CCPA, the legislative analysis discusses some of the fiscal effects. One concern is how businesses may change their operations in response to the proposed law, and how many violations would be investigated and result in penalties. Additionally, because of the requirement to create the new enforcement agency under the law (the California Privacy Protection Agency or CPPA) and shift some enforcement from the Department of Justice to the CPPA, there is a general belief that workload would increase on the state level, and would require at least an increase in $10 million annually. Similarly, the proposition could result in more court costs, but there is a presumption that some or all of such costs will be covered by increased revenues from penalties.
Opposition to the law. Interestingly, the number of opponents to Proposition 24 is growing, including ACLU of Northern California, Color of Change, Consumer Federation of California, California Alliance for Retired Americans, labor and civil rights leader Dolores Huerta, the Media Alliance and more. In their rebuttals and arguments against the law, the opposition points to reductions in California worker’s rights, as well as what they call “flaws” hidden in the ballot measure’s fine print. Such flaws, they argue, provide superior internet services for those who pay, limit job applicants’ and workers’ rights to know what personal information employers maintain about them, and whittle away protections under the CCPA that were intended to limit technology companies ability to collect and use personal information.
Proponents to the law. Proponents, on the other hand, argue that the CPRA actually strengthens protections that were otherwise being weakened by amendments to the CCPA. The major focus of their arguments is related to security and accountability, new limits placed on companies’ collection and use of personal information, establishing an enforcement arm through the CPPA, and preventing special interest groups and politicians from undermining the law.
