New California Data Privacy Laws for 2015

As has been the case for more than 10 years, California leads the way, for better or worse, for the rest of the country in protecting resident’s privacy.  Their original breach law, SB 1386, is the model for laws for the rest of the country.

So, what is new in 2015 – read on.  If SB 1386 is any indication, expect to see this in a legislature near you soon.

REMEMBER, one of the big challenges for businesses is that many laws cover people based on WHERE THEY LIVE, not where you live.  So, if you have a business in Dallas, Texas and a California resident uses your web site, you are required to follow California law and if you don’t the California Attorney General can (and has in the past) come after you.  AND, you have to defend yourself in Sacramento, not Dallas. Small breach and they are not likely to visit you.  Bigger breach and they might.

• SB 568 extends the federal law for protecting minors online (COPPA).  COPPA defines kids as anyone under the age of 13;  SB 568 defines it as anyone under the age of 18.  So, if you have a web site that may attract Cali residents under the age of 18, this law affects you.
• AB 1710 removes the wiggle room in the old law.  The old law talked about owning or licensing information.  The new law says if you MAINTAIN information on a California resident you must “implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices appropriate to the nature of the information, to protect the personal information from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure.”  Of course, reasonable is not defined, but there likely will be some discussion about what is reasonable if you are breached.
• There are several new laws that govern information collected by third parties and schools about pupils and how that information may be used.

For more details, see this article.

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