In 1986, when California voters approved Proposition 65, they effectively enacted a nationwide law, whether they intended to or not. The ballot measure, known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, requires all businesses, including product manufacturers, to warn Californians about any significant exposures to chemicals that could cause cancer, birth defects or reproductive harm.
A pedestrian crosses Hollywood Boulevard in L.A. (Photo: View Apart, via Shutterstock)An effort backed by advocates for pedestrians and bicycle riders would set up experimental programs in several California cities to get drivers to obey traffic laws, in part through the use of red-light and speed cameras.
An illustration of California's new privacy laws and online security. (Photo: Cristian Storto, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Following the passage of Proposition 24 by a considerable margin, the new California Privacy Protection Agency Board members were finally appointed. The Assembly speaker, the Senate leader, the state attorney general, and the governor all choose a venerable group of five privacy minds to help shape and lead the new agency as it prepares for the law’s effective date of 2023.
An illustration of online data sharing. (Image: Lightspring, via Shutterstock)OPINION: One year ago, the California Legislature passed the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed it into law. Even at passage, the legislative leadership recognized its flaws – what some observers called an “unmitigated disaster in the making” – and committed to addressing its flaws in the year before it took effect in January of 2020.
L.A.'s Hollywood Boulevard by night, an entertainment hub of the city. (Photo: View Apart, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Most consumers are all too familiar with signs displayed by small business owners that read, “We reserve the right to deny service to anyone.” Signs once intended to discourage minor infractions are largely obsolete today, especially with the escalation of alcohol-induced violence in bars and nightclubs. Today, alcohol is a leading contributor to sexual and aggravated assault, and homicide.
Developer Alastair Mactaggart, center, gets a hug from Sen. Bob Hertzberg, left, while Assemblymember Ed Chau looks on. Chau and Hertzberg pushed Mactaggart's privacy bill through the Legislature. (Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli) The new law gives consumers the right to access their personal information collected by big businesses. It gives them the right to delete it, the right to know what information is being sold and the right to stop businesses from selling their information. It also prohibits businesses from selling the personal information of youth under 16 unless they opt in.
An illustration of data privacy and the internet. <i(Image: Green Tech, via Shutterstock) With only hours to spare, Gov. Jerry Brown headed off what was sure to be a multimillion-dollar initiative battle and signed legislation boosting the rights of consumers over how internet companies use their personal data. Brown’s signing Thursday afternoon came after a scramble in the Legislature to get the measure passed in the face of a tight deadline.
An illustration of internet security, a padlock on a digital background. (Image: Titima Ongkantong, via Shutterstock)The pressure is on: High-stakes, closed-door maneuvering involving lawmakers and the fate of a November ballot initiative is roiling the Capitol. The initiative would boost privacy rights for millions of online customers. But it won’t go directly to voters at all, the sponsor promises, if a bill emerges from the Legislature and makes it to the governor’s desk by Thursday, June 28.
A cell phone is repaired. (Photo: Andrey_PopovOPINION: Recently introduced legislation in the California Assembly (AB 2110), would require manufacturers to provide independent repair shops with the same parts, tools, software, and other information that they provide to their authorized repair shops for the repair of Internet-connected electronics – from smart phones to home appliances to toys to fire alarms.
As you are no doubt aware, we are sponsoring a privacy initiative to appear on the November 2018 California ballot, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. The measure would allow California consumers to protect their personal information from the type of breach that just occurred at Facebook.