California has long been the national leader in addressing online and mobile privacy issues. Influenced by the inclusion of the right of privacy as an inalienable right of its citizens guaranteed by the State Constitution, California enacted the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA) in 2004, becoming the first state to require websites and online services to conspicuously post privacy policies detailing the personal information they collect and the categories of third parties with whom they share that information. More recently, the California Attorney General’s office formed a Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit, clarified that mobile applications are subject to CalOPPA (and pursued app developers who did not provide privacy policies with their apps) and published a best practices guide for the mobile app “ecosystem.”

California continues such leadership with the recent passage of an amendment to CalOPPA requiring website operators to describe their policies relating to online tracking of consumers. Under the amendment, which is effective January 1, 2014, CalOPPA now requires privacy policies to..