Arnall Golden Gregory LLP is pleased to provide you with the Compliance News Flash, which includes current news briefs relevant to background screening, immigration and data privacy, for the benefit and interest of our clients as well as employers and consumer reporting agencies generally.

• Maryland has enacted a statewide “Ban-the-Box” law. The Maryland General Assembly overrode the Governor’s veto of the bill, S.B. 839. The law prohibits employers with 15 or more full-time employees from inquiring, before the first in-person interview, about an applicant’s criminal record or criminal accusations. The law takes effect on February 29, 2020. Notably, the law does not preempt the more restrictive ban-the-box ordinances enacted in Baltimore, Montgomery County, and Prince George’s County. Click here to read the text of the Act.

• The City of Oakland, California has enacted an ordinance banning criminal background checks for rental housing. Other cities in California have passed similar ordinances which are limited to rentals for affordable or subsidized housing. The Oakland ordinance applies more broadly to nearly all rental housing, with a few exemptions including for rental property occupied in part by the owner and for certain sexual offenders. Click here to read more.

• The Office of the Attorney General of California has issued a second draft of its California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) proposed regulations. The Office of the Attorney General will accept written comments on the revised proposed regulations until February 25, 2020. The revised proposed regulations clarify a number of definitions, including “personal information,” adding that whether information is “personal information” depends upon how the information is maintained such that if an IP address cannot reasonably be linked to a particular consumer or household, it is not “personal information.” The revised regulations also clarify the obligations surrounding submissions of consumer requests. For example, a business operating exclusively online that has a direct relationship with the consumer only needs to provide an email address for submissions of consumer requests to know. The revised regulations make changes to various other provisions of the regulations, as well. Click here to access the revised proposed regulations.

• The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) data broker registry is live. The CCPA requires data brokers to have registered with the California Attorney General by January 31, 2020. The website of the Office of the Attorney General provides that a data broker that has not registered by the January 31st deadline should register as soon as possible and may be liable for civil penalties for each day it fails to register. The CCPA defines “data broker” as “a business that knowingly collects and sells to third parties the personal information of a consumer with whom the business does not have a direct relationship.” There are exceptions to this definition for consumer reporting agencies to the extent the activities are covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and financial institutions to the extent the activities are covered by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA). Click here to see the businesses who have registered and click here to register.

• The Washington State Senate voted 46-1 to pass S.B. 6281, the Washington Privacy Act (the “Act”). The Act, which now awaits consideration in the House of Representatives, would provide consumers with the right to access, correction, and deletion of their personal information. Similar to the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA), the Washington Privacy Act would also impose affirmative duties on businesses regarding the processing of facial recognition data, and require certain companies to conduct and document a data protection assessment. The Act gives the Washington Attorney General exclusive enforcement authority and does not provide a private right of action. If the bill passes the House, Washington State would follow California as the second state to enact comprehensive data privacy legislation. Click here to read more and click here to read the text of the bill.