The California Attorney General (AG) held its fifth of seven public forums on the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in Sacramento on February 5, 2019. The Sacramento forum was among the best attended CCPA public forums to date, and more individuals spoke at this forum than at any other CCPA public forum. For over two hours, trade association representatives and consumer advocates provided competing visions of how the AG should implement the Act. The following provides an overview of the Sacramento forum and comments made at the forum. You can also read our reports on previous forums held in San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Riverside here.
AG’s Opening Remarks
As with previous forums, Stacey Schesser, Supervising Deputy Attorney General of the AG’s privacy unit, gave opening remarks. She outlined previous ground rules: speakers had five minutes to provide comments, comments should focus on specific rules the AG must promulgate, and the AG’s office would not provide responses or feedback to comments. Ms. Schesser reiterated the AG’s request for written comments and/or draft regulations by March 8, 2019 as well as the AG’s estimated timeline for issuing draft regulations in Fall 2019.
Participation and Comments at the Forum
Approximately 150 individuals attended the Sacramento forum, and 25 individuals made remarks. Industry representatives made 19 comments and consumer advocates made six comments.
Industry comments. The majority of business and industry comments came from trade associations representing a variety of sectors, including retail, advertising, wireless, online gaming, payroll processing, credit monitoring and fraud prevention, education, life sciences, utilities, and nonprofits. These representatives raised general as well as industry-specific concerns.
As to general issues, industry representatives primarily requested clarification on previously raised issues, including:
One speaker also expressed concern regarding compliance deadlines, arguing that the six month compliance deadline is “arbitrary and capricious” and that the AG should provide different compliance deadlines for each individual right, similar to the Federal Communication Commission’s approach to robocall requirements.
As to industry-specific issues, trade associations commented on:
Consumer advocate comments. Representatives from consumer and privacy advocacy groups, including Californians for Consumer Privacy—the organization behind the initiative that spawned the Act—primarily commented on:
Upcoming Forums and Next Steps
The AG will hold two more public forums:
Written comments can be directed to the AG by email to privacyregulations@doj.ca.gov or by mail to California Department of Justice, ATTN: Privacy Regulations Coordinator, 300 S.Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013. Again, the deadline to submit comments is March 8, 2019. Please visit our CCPA Resource Center for up-to-date information regarding the Act.
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