California’s data privacy law, enacted in June, is a critical step forward to protect the privacy and security of technology users’ data. EFF is one of fifteen privacy organizations calling on the state’s legislators to defend and continue to improve the California Consumer Privacy Act this year.

The law has already become a target of industries that wish to weaken its effects and make it easier to get around some of the law’s most important protections. We join our allies in asking California’s lawmakers to:

  • Oppose efforts to carve out more exceptions for particular types of data use.
  • Fight attempts to add loopholes that weaken people’s ability to “say no” to data collection.
  • Reject efforts to weaken people’s ability to download and access their own data.
  • Protect specific data privacy and security protections for children and teens.

The letter also calls for improvements to strengthen the CCPA and cement California’s role as a privacy leader. As we have explained, while this law is a step forward, it also has important flaws that must be fixed. In our letter, we outline the needs to:

  • Define data misuse and abuse in the California Privacy Act, to discourage companies from using data in ways that would surprise the data subjects.
  • Ensure appropriate security protections for more types of data, beyond financial information and Social Security numbers.
  • Provide people a meaningful way to fight back against companies that violate the CCPA, by expanding the private cause of action— an expansion supported California’s Attorney General to allow individuals to protect their own privacy rights.

The foundation set by the CCPA must be protected and built upon to ensure businesses treat people’s data with respect and take responsibility for their actions.

Our allies in this coalition effort are Access Humboldt, ACLU of California, CALPIRG, Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, Center for Digital Democracy, Common Sense Kids Action, Consumer Action, Consumer Attorneys of California, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports, Digital Privacy Alliance, Media Alliance, Oakland Privacy and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

You can read the full letter here.